45 Days
by KingdomClouds
Summary: In 45 days, I somehow managed to move back to Washington, meet one of the most stubborn werewolves I have ever encountered, fall in love with said werewolf, and still keep my sanity. At least I think so. Rated M for language and adult content.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N): Hello my beautiful readers! Thank you for giving my first **_**Twilight **_**story a read! I have written Fan Fiction before, but for a different fandom and under a different name. I hope you enjoy my first stab at **_**Twilight**_**! **

**All the rights to the characters, plot elements, etc. go to Stephenie Meyer so no lawsuits for me! Also, none of the events in New Moon (besides Edward leaving and Bella becoming a zombie) and post events happened. So, Bella doesn't know about the wolves and Jacob didn't phase until Bella left. **

**Any-who! Enjoy my story and don't forget to review!**

* * *

**DAY 1: August 14, 2013**

**BPOV**

I sat on the plane and anxiously looked at the window to see it descend into Seattle. It's been so long since I've been in Washington. Five years to be exact. After the horrendous senior year I had, I wanted to leave Forks behind. Edward did a real number on me and I couldn't stay in Forks without being constantly reminded by him. So when I got offered a full scholarship to USC (University of Southern California), I jumped at the chance. Charlie, of course, tried to convince me to go to University of Washington, but I wanted out of Washington.

The past years that I've spent in California really helped me heal from the damage Edward had done to me. It also helped me realize how pathetic I was for reacting the way I did when he left. Edward was a manipulative and hurtful person. I let him dazzle me at every chance and fall under his spell of what I thought was love. Edward didn't love me and I wasn't in love with him. I was simply in love with the _idea _of him. The mysterious, god-like vampire who managed to fall in love with the mousy brunette. It was a something out of bad romance, teenage novel if you ask me.

I'm no longer that mousy brunette though. I am a strong woman who takes charge in her own life instead of letting others do it for me. I had a serious revaluation of my life in California and was now happy with who I am. I wasn't going to let anyone decide my destiny or decide my happiness.

California didn't only give me a newfound perspective on my life but gave me some new friends. The first being my roommate, Jill. She's one of the sweetest people I know and also one of the goofiest. She can barely go one hour without making some kind of joke, but she has a really kind heart and one of the brightest personalities I have ever encountered. Jill received her degree in dance, but wasn't sure what she wanted do quite yet. As of now, she is living in her hometown of Baltimore in hopes to figure it out there.

The next friend I met was Josh. Josh is six feet and three inches of hilarity. He is one of the first gay men that I met in California, but besides the fact of actually liking guys, he was pretty much "straight." He still loved to play video games and read comics, but his real love is for the arts. Josh is the only one of the three of us who decided to stay in LA in hopes to make a career in acting.

After a lot of deliberation, I decided to return to Washington. My degree in English is versatile enough to give me almost any job I want, plus I wanted to be closer to Charlie. Even though he flown to visit me a couple of times, I know he missed me in Forks. I haven't decided what I exactly wanted to do, but I was leaning towards teaching. I always loved the idea of teaching. I also wanted to meet this "Sue" that Charlie goes on and on about. By the sound of his constant praise, she sounds like an amazing woman.

The plane finally touched the ground and I made my way off the plane as fast as I possibly could. I had my stuff shipped to Charlie's house earlier, so I just had my purse and carry-on with me. I walked towards baggage claim though because I knew that's where Charlie was going to meet me. I, however, was surprised to see a massive Jacob Black standing next to him. Jake looked gigantic! His hair was now short too, but the one thing that stayed the same was his sunny smile.

"Bells!" Charlie exclaimed as I walked into his arms and hugged him. "It's good to have you back." He said patting my shoulder.

"Good to be back, Dad." I said before turning to Jake. "What's up, steroids?" I asked as Jake smirked down at me.

"Nothing much, Hollywood." He quipped as I rolled my eyes. Jake pulled me into a tight hug and I already started to feel the sweat cumulate on my neck.

"Jeez, do you have a fever or something? You're scorching hot!" I said pulling away from.

"Now Bells, I know I'm good-looking, but I have a girlfriend." He joked as I gasped.

"_You _have a girlfriend?!"

"Please, don't sound too surprised." He muttered as I lightly slapped his arm.

"How long has this been going on?" I asked as the three of us began to walk out of the airport.

"Almost a year." He said sheepishly.

"Didn't think about telling me, Black?"

"Well, if someone wasn't too busy living the good life in California, then maybe one would know."

"You email about me stupid stuff Embry and Quil do, but don't think about telling me about a girlfriend?" I fired back as he rolled his eyes and put my bags in a truck I didn't recognize. "Whose truck is this?" I asked.

"It's Sam Uley's. You'll meet him later." Charlie said. Sam Uley? Hmm, that sounds familiar, but I couldn't quite picture his face. Maybe Charlie mentioned him before. I sat between Charlie and Jake as Jake drove us back to Forks. I hounded Jake the whole time about his girlfriend as Charlie laughed along. Her name is Vanessa and he met her at a bonfire. She's apparently Jared's cousin. I think Charlie mentioned Jared around the same time he mentioned Sam. She lives on the reservation and moved there a year ago from Oregon, where she was going to school. Jake had a smile on his face the whole time he talked about her and I just knew I would probably love her. It was nice to see him happy about someone else for once and not pining after me like he used to.

"All right, we're here." Jake said pulling up to my old house. It looked suspiciously empty from the outside, but that made me think that Charlie moved or sold some old stuff. I got out of the truck and walked in to only see my suspicions confirmed. Everything, besides some new furniture, was gone. The pictures, Charlie's chair, the tacky Seahawks blanket that would always lay on the back of the couch, everything! I turned back to face Charlie who had an embarrassed smile on his face.

"What's going on?" I asked eyeing Charlie.

"Well, this is my surprise for you Bella. I moved in with Sue a couple weeks back and when you told me you were going to be moving back, I moved all the old stuff out and replaced the furniture. The house is now yours." Charlie said extending his hand out to reveal a key in his palm.

"A-Are you serious?" I stuttered. Charlie nodded and I began to feel my eyes water. All this time I thought I would have to relive my high school days and live with Charlie. I didn't mind, but actually having the whole house to myself was amazing! I launched myself into his arms and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Daddy! I couldn't be anymore grateful." I said as Charlie chuckled and patted my back awkwardly.

"Glad you like it, Bells." He said gruffly. I walked around the house and saw that it was filled with completely new furniture and Charlie had kept some pictures, but they were in a box. He explained that he didn't want to keep them up in case I didn't want them up. I would probably put some back up like the pictures of us, but not my yearbook photos throughout the years. Those don't need to see the day of light.

"I'm going to head out, but Bells, there's a bonfire tonight if you want to join. The pa…the guys will be there so you can finally meet some of them. Sue will be there also." Jake said smirking at Charlie as he blushed. I laughed and agreed to go. It would be nice to finally meet some of these people that Charlie and Jake have been talking about. Charlie and I spent the afternoon unpacking my stuff and setting up my new house. _My _house. That does sound nice. Charlie eventually left to head over to the rez and I decided to relax in the living room.

I can only recall a few names that Charlie or Jake has mentioned. I know Sue's kids are Seth and Leah. Leah is around my age, 22, and Seth is two years younger. Jake has mentioned Quil and Embry, but I knew them before I left. Only briefly though. I think Jake mentioned a set of twins, but I don't remember their names. That's all who I really remembered, but I would be meeting them tonight and I'm sure one of them will stick around me to give me the low-down on everyone.

I got up and started to unpack a little. I eventually decided to change clothes and moved to my old bedroom to change. I slipped on a pair of denim, skinny jeans and my favorite USC sweatshirt. I slipped on my brown _Rainbow_ sandals and grabbed my bag. Charlie said he would be here to pick me up so I decided to sit on the kitchen counter and wait for him. I cleared a few levels on _Candy Crush _before I heard the door open. A tall Quileute man entered that I didn't recognize. He had russet skin and black hair like the others I have seen, but his eyes were almond shaped with bright brown irises and he had a giant grin on his face.

"Hey! You must be Bella! I'm Sue's son, Seth." The man introduced himself as I smiled brightly up at him. He was tall like Jake, but wasn't as built as him. His shoulders were wide, but his muscles were lean. His face was round and had boyish features on his face despite him being 20.

"Nice to meet you, too! Charlie told me about you. Are you here to take me to the bonfire?" I guessed.

"Yup, my mom made him help her out with setting up the food so he asked if I could go pick you up. It's nice to meet my future stepsister." Seth grinned as I froze and stared at him wide-eyed.

"W-What? D-Did Charlie pro-propose?" I stuttered making Seth laugh as he held the door open for me.

"Nah, he hasn't, but it looks like they're on a road that's quickly headed for marriage." He explained as I smiled. I guess Charlie really loved her. I was happy for him. Renee had Phil and Charlie had always been alone. It was nice to see that he has someone now. I got into the truck and Seth quickly hopped into the driver's seat.

"So, what made you come back to Washington? I would love to live in California." Seth asked as we headed towards La Push.

"I wanted to be closer to Charlie. Plus, I wanted to be back in a small town. LA, while awesome, is always crowded with tons of people. It's nice to be home now." I explained as Seth nodded. "You haven't consider moving there?" I asked.

"Um, yeah, but I have to stay on the rez. You know, for my mom and the rest of the tribe. I help out a lot with the other guys."

"What do you guys do?"

"Just handy stuff. Some of the other guys are specialized in other stuff, but I mostly help Sam with construction." He said. "Have you thought about what you're going to do now that you're back?" He asked.

"I actually want to see if there's any open positions at the high school for English teachers. I want to see if teaching is the right thing for me."

"There's actually a couple of positions open at the school on the rez. I'm not sure if they're for English, but doesn't hurt to look."

"Really? That would be amazing!"

"You could spend even more time with us!"

"Well, let's see if everyone will like me."

"I'm sure they will. Charlie is a good friend of the tribe and everyone loves him. Everyone is bound to love you. You're awesome." Seth said as I smiled softly. Something about Seth reminded me of Jill. He seemed like a good kid with a nice heart. We talked a little bit more before we pulled up to the beach. We hopped out of the truck and it was then I noticed Seth's wardrobe decision.

"Aren't you going to be cold?" I asked staring at his thin t-shirt and cutoff shorts.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I tend to run hot anyways." He said with a shrug. Seth ran off towards the group of guys while I walked over to greet Charlie.

"Bells! Glad you made here in one piece. I hoped Seth didn't annoy you." Charlie grinned.

"I heard that, Chief!" Seth yelled from down the beach. Man, that kid must have good hearing.

"You know it's all in good fun, son!" Charlie called back. I smiled to see that he was actually happy here and not just living life day-by-day like he used to. "Bella, I want you to meet Sue Clearwater." Charlie said as he motioned to a woman standing beside him. She was thin and a little taller than me. She had thick black hair that was cut to rest on her shoulders. Her eyes were just like Seth's and she had a kind smile on her face.

"It's very nice to meet you, Bella. I've heard so many wonderful things about you." Sue said as she shook my hand.

"Likewise. It's been a while since I've seen someone deal with my dad's stubbornness." I said as Charlie huffed. Sue and I laughed as Charlie walked away. I talked to Sue for a bit getting to know her. She really is a kind woman and I couldn't be happier for Charlie. Suddenly a tall female walked up to us. She was taller than both Sue and I and her hair was cut short and rested at the nape of her neck. She had high cheekbones and full lips that pulled back to reveal a brilliant white smile, similar to Seth's.

"Hey, I'm Leah, Sue's daughter. It's great to finally meet the chief's daughter. The man can never shut up about you." Leah joked as I laughed.

"Hopefully nothing embarrassing." I said.

"Just that you're a major klutz." She said as I blushed.

"Guilty." I said as she and Sue laughed.

"Hey babe!" A tall man ran over and wrapped his arms around Leah. He skin was tan, but a shade lighter than the rest of the tribe. His hair was black and styled up in whatever way that most guys do. His eyes were light brown and he had wide shoulders and strong arms. He wasn't as built as some of the older guys, but he still was in good shape.

"Hey! Marc, this is Bella. She's Charlie's daughter. Bella, this is my boyfriend, Marc Alvarez." Leah said as we both shook hands.

"The chief's daughter? Nice to meet you! I would stay away from Leah's potato salad unless you want to spend your night on the can." Marc staged whisper before receiving a playful nudge from his girlfriend.

"Whatever, someone's not getting any tonight. C'mon Bella, let me introduce you to everyone." Leah said pulling on my arm as we walked towards the group of people.

"Love you baby!" Marc yelled as Leah rolled her eyes, but I saw her mouth pulled up in a smile.

"Bella!" Billy exclaimed once I came into his view. Man, this is going to be a long night of introductions and reunions.

"Billy! It's so good to see you. How are you?" I asked as Leah left me to help her mom with the hotdogs.

"I'm good, child. How are you? It's nice to have you back here." Billy said as I smiled softly. Billy was always like an uncle to me. He's a good man and also Charlie's best friend. When the two of them get together it becomes an endless discussion of fishing and sports, but also gossip about the tribe. Billy is the chief of the tribe and an amazing father to Jake. After catching up with Billy I was dragged to meet everyone else. I met Jared and his wife Kim along with the twins, Brady and Collin. I met Quil again and his girlfriend Claire and Sam's wife Emily. Emily had these long jagged scars on the left side of her face, but I did my best not stare at her. Even with the scars, she looked beautiful. Jake told me Embry and his fiancée were running late and he had stupid grin on his face, which made me suspicious. Jake also told me that Sam and Paul were going to show up late since they have to finish a quick job somewhere else.

"Hi!" A girl with a bright smile and long dark hair. It wasn't black, but almost there. She had tan skin that was lighter than everyone else's, but not as pale as Charlie and I. Her hair fell in soft curls and she had wide hazel eyes. "I'm Vanessa, I'm Jake's girlfriend and Jared's cousin." She said sitting next to me on the log.

"It's so nice to meet you. However, I didn't know about you until a couple of hours ago!" I said loud enough that Jake can hear. Jake ducked his head sheepishly as Vanessa and I laughed.

"Well excuse my boyfriend. He likes to keep me to himself." Vanessa said waving her head dismissively.

"Ness! Don't be like that!" Jake yelled from across the fire.

"Ignore him. That's what I used to do." I whispered as we broke into a fit of laughter. Vanessa and I talked for a little bit and I found out she was just starting her senior year in high school. She noticed my look of apprehension and told me her parents didn't mind that Jake was older and now she was 18. I was relieved. I didn't want to see Jake go through that kind of drama.

"Embry's here!" Quil announced as I turned my head to see Embry walk down the beach with…Angela Webber?!

"Angela?!" I exclaimed before running over to her. She laughed and hugged me as I wrapped my arms around her. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Um, I'm actually engaged to Embry." She said shyly as my mouth dropped. Angela and I kept little contact through Facebook and last I heard she was dating Ben Cheney. Angela was a sweet girl and I couldn't possibly imagine her breaking up with someone. I wonder if Ben broke up with her. When did she even change her relationship status?

"What? When did that happen?" I asked as we began to walk back towards the fire.

"Well, I was going to UW when I ran into Embry. He was apparently finding out about online classes and…we got to know each other and started dating. He proposed to me a month ago." Angela said as she lifted up her left hand to show me a simple engagement ring. It was a beautiful ring and fit Angela's style perfectly.

"Oh my God! I'm so excited for you!" I exclaimed as I hugged her again.

"Thanks Bella, I'm actually happy that you're here now. I was wondering if you would be my maid of honor?" She asked nervously.

"I would love to Angela!" I said as she thanked me again. I saw Jake snicker out of the corner of my eye and whipped around. "Did you know about this?" I asked.

"Why, I have no idea what you're talking about." Jake said as he held his hands up innocently. Dinner soon began and I watched as all the boys packed their plates before gorging themselves. No wonder there was so much food. I took turns sitting with everyone and getting to know him or her. They all seemed like really nice people and they were really close to each other. It was one big family.

"All right, we got to head out." Jared said as he and Embry stood up.

"Aw, why?" I asked.

"We have an early shift tomorrow and need to get our sleep." Embry explained before kissing Angela's cheek. Jared quickly kissed Kim and they both left.

"We're here." A man said, who I assumed was Sam by the way he stared at Emily. They arrived shortly after Embry and Jared and Emily gave them both plates packed with food. Sam looked like the biggest out of all the guys. Jake was almost as big as him, maybe even as big as him. Sam leaned over and kissed Emily's scars before wrapping his arms around her. I turned my head to look at this Paul guy. He was tall, just like the rest, but had more defined muscles and bone structure. His hair was cut short and his eyes were dark brown. He didn't look over to me and he looked to be pissed off at something. What that something was, I didn't know.

"All right, let's begin the legends shall we?" Billy said as everybody settled in. I couldn't help but glance in Paul's direction throughout Billy's telling of the legends. His face was beautiful and his body was even better. I could feel myself getting hot and I had to focus my attention back on Billy. You're not here for a guy, Bella. You're here to start your new life. For yourself and no one else! Remember that!

**PPOV**

"I'm tired of working these night shifts, Sam." I grunted as we shifted back into our human forms.

"I'm trying to switch them around to convenience everyone, not just you. You know the younger guys have school soon. They can't be up all night patrolling and then go to school." Sam explained as we walked towards the beach. "I don't know why you're complaining. You don't have night patrol tonight." He muttered.

"I did the last three nights." I sneered. I know I shouldn't be complaining since Sam was doing his best to give me less night patrols, but I was tired of running around in the middle of night only to get two hours of sleep before waking up and going to work construction with Sam. I was annoyed especially since the last three nights found me patrolling. I was fucking miserable.

"Relax, we're going to the bonfire now and you can eat to your heart's content." Sam said patting me on the back. I huffed and followed him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Embry and Jared's wolves take to the forest. We walked onto the beach to see everyone and Emily handed us plates of food. I briefly glanced to see the chief's daughter here. Sam had mentioned her arrival. I didn't really know her besides the thoughts the pack has had of her. She seems like a pushover. Definitely not my type of chick. She's probably still a virgin. Where's the challenge in that?

Billy began to tell the legends for the one-millionth time as I tuned it out. It's not like it's shit I haven't heard before. Once he was done all the old timers left leaving the pack, the imprints, and Bella Swan. I got up as soon as Quil started doing his Batman impression to grab a drink. After I grabbed a soda I turned around only to have a small body run into.

"Watch it." I growled grabbing her pale wrist in my hand. She gasped and looked up at me with her wide brown doe eyes. Then it happened. My body shook at the sudden force. Gravity shifted and my sight zeroed in on the girl in front of me. I couldn't hear anything besides her heart beat. Not the pack's laughter. Not the waves crashing. And not the animals in the forest behind me. Just the steady drum of her heart against her chest.

You got to be fucking kidding me.

I let go of her hand and swiftly turned around before entering the forest. My wolf was whining, begging me to go back to her, but I wasn't having it. I can't believe this shit. Fuck! I actually had hope that I wasn't going to imprint. I'm 26 and everybody else besides the teens had imprinted already! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I punched a tree when Sam found me and he shook his head.

"Don't!" I warned as he put his hands up innocently.

"I don't know why you're so angry. Bella is a great girl. She might help you with your temper." Sam pointed out as I growled at him. "Case in point."

"You know I didn't want to imprint! It's so fucking stupid! How is it possible that Bella mother-fucking Swan is my 'soul mate'? She's…she's…there's no way she's supposed to be with me!"

"I know you think imprinting is all about taking away your choices and forcing you with someone you wouldn't have ever picked—"

"Case in point." I said motioning back towards the beach where I knew Bella was.

"_But_," Sam said leveling a glare towards me for interrupting him. "The imprint points out your soul mate. Someone you have been destined to be with since the two of you were born. The imprint isn't about being in a relationship with this person either. You are whatever she wants you to be. If that's a friend, then so be it. You don't have to have a romantic relationship with her. Leah felt the same way about imprinting and look at her and Marc. She hasn't been this happy since before the phasing began." Sam explained as I frowned. Leah and I were both anti-imprint until Marc visited First Beach with his cousins who lived in Forks.

"Maybe you should talk to her about this." Sam suggested as I huffed. I don't give a fuck about what Sam or Leah say. I didn't want to imprint and I still don't want to. What were the spirits thinking? Wimpy Bella Swan for me? I would tear her apart before she even had a chance to say hello to me.

"Paul," Sam said grabbing my attention again. "Whether you wanted this to happen or not, you need to tell Bella about the pack and imprinting." He said before leaving me alone.

I sat on the ground and held my head between my hands. My wolf was whimpering. He knew she was near and he wanted to go see her. _You just saw her a couple of minutes ago. _My wolf continued to whine as he tried to push against my control. I gave up and decided to give him what he wanted. I walked back onto the beach to see that everyone was now making smores by the fire. I saw Bella look up at me before blushing and looking back down. I heard Seth, Brady, and Collin snicker before I threw them a glare. That shut them up. I sat down next to Jared since his log was next to Bella's.

"So—"

"Shut up. I don't want to hear it." I growled at him as he and Kim laughed. Everybody thinks this is fucking hilarious. Clearly, I missed the joke. Throughout the rest of the night I couldn't help but look in Bella's direction. Damn her soft chestnut waves and soft pink lips. I just want to grab her hair and kiss her with all my might. Feel her small hands run up my chest and pull at my hair. Feel her sweet curves pressed up against my body in the most delicious way—Ah! Fuck this imprint is making me sound like a chick! The night was coming to an end and I got up to make my leave before Seth threw me the keys to his truck.

"I have to help Leah and Marc clean up, do you mind taking Bella home?" Seth asked. I narrowed my eyes at him and he had a smug smirk that I wanted to punch off his stupid baby face. I scanned the rest of the beach only to see Leah, Marc, Kim (who doesn't know how to drive stick), and Seth left. I sighed heavily and nodded.

"Bella!" Seth yelled as Bella looked up at Seth. "I have to stay here so Paul is going to drive you home!" Her eyes flickered over to me and even in the darkness I could see her blush start to stretch across her cheeks. How was this shy girl supposed to be able to handle me? The spirits are clearing slacking off with this whole imprinting thing. Bella walked over to Leah to hand her the blankets that she folded before saying goodbye to everyone. She walked up to me and we began to walk to Seth's truck.

"Paul, right?" I heard her ask quietly.

"Yeah," I said. Her asking made me realize that we haven't been properly introduced.

"Thanks for taking me home." She said as we got into the truck. I know if Emily was here she would have smacked the back of my head for not opening the door for Bella, but that's the thing, Emily isn't here. As soon as the doors were closed I suddenly felt hot for the first time since I've phased. Sure, I feel constantly warm, but this was the first time I've felt unbearably hot. The air was thick and the tension between Bella and I was even thicker. I rolled down my window half way and Bella raised her eyebrow in question.

"It's hot in here." I muttered starting the engine.

"How do you feel hot? You're not even wearing a shirt." Bella said as I looked down to see that I was, in fact, not wearing a shirt. Well shit, I'm so used to not wearing a shirt I must have forgotten.

"Checking me out, Swan?" I asked trying to lighten the mood. Today officially sucked and I needed some mild entertainment. If that was making Bella Swan squirm, then so be it.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She fired back as I got onto the main road. I could feel my eyebrows raise up as I looked at her shocked. Whoa, wasn't expecting that answer. From everything I heard about her, she was a mousy, shy girl that never stuck up for herself. Granted, it's the feistiest answer I've heard from a girl, but still pretty damn feisty. Maybe California had changed her. Jake's memories only consisted of her awkwardly standing off to the side never engaging into anything. She was always shy and insecure in his memories. Hmm, maybe I should test this theory out again.

"Don't be shy, Swan. I know you want to feel these biceps." I said flexing my arm.

"Have you always been this full of yourself-f?" Her stuttering made me look in her direction. I thought she was stuttering from embarrassment, but it turned out that she was shivering.

"I'm sorry, you're cold." I said as I began to roll up the window feeling bad for making her freeze.

"No, it's fine. You're the driver and you're hot." I strained my ears to hear if there was a double meaning to that.

"C'mere." I said opening my arm out for her. She looked at me hesitantly as I rolled my eyes. "I run hot so I can keep you warm." I explained. She moved to sit next to me (not as close as I wanted her to sit) and I draped my arm over her shoulders as she sighed in relief.

"You're turning out much nicer than I thought you be." Bella said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Jake told me you weren't the…friendliest of people and the way you stormed off after I ran into. I thought I had upset you." She explained. Was I really being nice to her right now? The realization kicked in and if could, I would've dragged her to the wheel and jumped right out of the car. What was I doing? Being _nice_? I'm Paul Lahote, number one asshole in all of the Pacific Northwest. What am I doing cuddling with a girl? We pulled up to her house and she pulled herself away from me. I was already missing the feeling of her. Gah! Shut up! You can't fall for this girl! It's the stupid imprint that's doing this, not you!

"Um, thanks again. I guess I'll see you around." Bella said sliding out of the truck. I nodded my head before watching her enter her house. I drove back to La Push, but there was a pulling in my chest, pulling me back to Forks. I pulled up to Sue's house and I could smell the chief inside. What was he doing here? Shouldn't he be at home with Bella? Wait…I think Seth told me that he was moving in with Sue. So, Bella is by herself in Forks? My wolf was pushing to get to the surface so he could run over to her house and make sure she was safe. She wasn't here. We—He didn't know she was safe. I couldn't hold him back and exploded into my wolf. I ran as fast I could to get to her house. She has to be safe. I—the wolf has to make sure she's ok.

I slowed down to a trot before stopping at the tree line behind her house. I could hear her move around her house before the sound of the shower started. Mm…a soapy and wet Bella. I purred at the thought and quickly rammed my head into a tree. Between my wolf and my inability to not think about Bella sexually, I was fucked.


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N): I'm so happy to hear that you guys liked the first chapter! Please review to let me know if you like the story or not!**

* * *

**DAY 3: August 16, 2013**

**BPOV**

Today was my interview with the high school on the reservation, La Push High School home of the Wolves. Sue had loan me her sedan for the time being until I got a car. My old truck died on me three years ago, but it lasted longer than any of us would have thought. I needed a little more money for a new car and if I got this job at the high school I could finally buy one. I wore my black pencil skirt and a violet blouse. Even though I had a dancer as my friend for the past five years, I still couldn't walk on a flat surface. Even the smallest of heels make me trip so I had to stick to flats. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and slipped my glasses on. Sure, I only needed them for reading, but they did make me look more professional. I grabbed my bag and blazer before walking out of my house.

I got into Sue's car and headed towards the reservation. I was nervous, but I quickly shook them away and cleared my head. I had to be strong for this interview. I really needed a job and this was the best opportunity. I already looked into Forks High and they were not hiring. This was my only chance unless I wanted to work at the library, but that was a much smaller paycheck. I pulled up to the high school and walked towards the main office. School hasn't started yet so the entire campus was empty. I slipped my slate gray blazer on and walked in with as much confidence I could muster.

"Hello," I said to the woman at the front desk. "I'm here for the interview for the English teacher position. My name is Isabella Swan."

"Ah! Yes, just walk down this hall and turn to the right and Principal Littlesea's office will be right there." The woman said as she pointed in the direction I was supposed to follow.

"Thank you." I said before leaving. I smoothed out my skirt and straightened out my blazer before knocking on the door.

"Come in." A soft, female voice said. I opened the door to see a slightly older woman sitting at a desk. Her hair was pulled up into a bun and had gray streaks throughout it. The corners of her eyes and mouth had slight wrinkles and her eyes were a soft brown. "You must be Ms. Swan." Principal Littlesea said as she stood up and stretched her hand out.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Principal Littlesea." I said shaking her hand.

"Please, call me Laura." She said as I smiled.

"Well by all means, please call me Bella." I said sitting down after she sat down. Laura smiled and began asking the questions. She asked general questions such as: Why do you want to be a teacher? Do you have any experience with teaching? Would you be able to handle the district's curriculum and make my own? By the end of the interview I was confident that I would receive the job. I shook Laura's hand and made my way back to Sue's car.

"Bella!" I turned around at the sound of my name to see Brady and Collin. "What are you doing at our school?" Brady asked as he and Collin ran over. I knew it was Brady because Collin had a scar on his eyebrow.

"I had an interview to be a teacher here." I explained.

"Awesome! Did you get it?" Collin asked.

"I don't know yet, but I think she liked me!"

"Does that mean you'll be our teacher?" Brady asked excitedly.

"I don't have the job yet guys, let's not get ahead of ourselves." I said trying to calm their excitement.

"This year is going to be awesome with you as our teacher!" Collin said as he and Brady high-fived. Clearly their excitement could not be contained.

"What are you guys doing here? You're still on summer vacation." I asked.

"We have to pick up our senior packets." Collin said as Brady held up the white packet.

"We're going to Emily's now if you want to come. She made cookies!" Brady said.

"Well, I actually had—"

"Let's go!" Collin exclaimed as both twins grabbed one of my arms and dragged me towards Emily's house. I guess I'll pick Sue's car up later. After a short, 10-minute walk we arrived to Emily and Sam's house and the twins barged right in with me in tow.

"Emily! We brought Bella!" Brady yelled as I was dragged into the kitchen.

"Hi Bella!" Emily said as she pulled out a tray of cookies. I greeted her before folding my blazer over a chair.

"Do you need any help?" I asked.

"No, this was the last batch, but thanks for the offer!" Emily said as I smiled. "Sam told me you had an interview at the high school today, how did it go?" She asked as the twins attacked the cookies.

"I think it went well. Laura seemed to really like me and even though I don't have much experience she was really impressed with the ideas for lesson plans I had."

"That's great! It would be nice to have someone in the know at the school."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Uh, never mind. Cookie?" Emily said quickly as she held up the basket of cookies. I decided it was nothing important and let it go. After a few more minutes talking with Emily and the twins the backdoor swung open to reveal Sam, Embry, Paul, and Seth.

"We smelled cookies!" Seth exclaimed before grabbing five and stuffing them into his mouth. Sam wrapped his arms around Emily and kissed the side of her face. It was such a tender moment and I felt like I was intruding. I turned around and saw Paul staring at me from the kitchen table. I haven't seen or spoken to him since the bonfire and a part of me is still tingling from the feeling of his arm around me.

"Hey Bella! How the interview go?" Embry asked. Jeez, tell Charlie and suddenly everybody knows.

"It was good! I will find out later today if I got it or not. How about you? How are you treating my girl, Angela?" I asked as he laughed nervously and blushed.

"Yeah, I really love her, Bella. Don't worry." Embry said scratching the back of his head.

"I know. I have nothing to worry about with you. Quil on the other hand…" We both laughed before Embry stopped and I saw him stare at Paul.

"It's great to hear that you aced the interview, Bella. I'm going to see if Ang is back." Embry said before leaving swiftly. I turned back to see Paul with his eyes glaring a hole into the table and his jaw clenched tightly. Was he telling Embry to leave or something? Maybe Jake was right. He's not the friendliest looking person at the moment.

"Hey Bella, I didn't know you wore glasses." Seth said through a mouthful of cookies.

"Manners!" Emily said smacking his shoulder. Seth grinned sheepishly before looking back at me.

"I just need them to read. I technically don't need to wear them right now." I said tapping the edge of my frames.

"So what's the point of wearing them now?" Paul practically sneered. I raised my eyebrow at the sudden attitude and I wasn't the only who noticed because Sam and Seth glared at him.

"I think I look more professional in them. I wore them as a confidence boost for my interview." Paul rolled his eyes before getting up from the table and leaving. What the hell is his problem? I barely talk to guy and now he thinks he can be an asshole to me?

"Ignore Paul. He has his moments." Brady said as I crossed my arms and huffed.

"Bella, I wanted to invite you to dinner tonight." Sam said as I looked over to him.

"Uh, why?" I asked. It's not that I don't like Sam, but I just met him and Emily.

"I wanted you to get to know us more and vice versa." He said as Emily smiled and nodded. There was a feeling in my stomach that this dinner was more than 'just getting to know each other,' but I agreed nonetheless. As long as Paul the Prick wasn't going to be around. I left Emily's house with plans to return for dinner and walked back to the school. I got into Sue's car and drove back to Forks.

Later that night I drove back to Emily and Sam's house wearing more casual clothes. Emily greeted me at the door and invited me in. She told me that Sam would be here soon and I offered to help her. She and I worked side-by-side and as soon as Sam walked through the door, dinner was ready. Jake and Vanessa eventually came too and I was grateful for their presences. With someone I know there it would be a lot less awkward. We ate and chatted about each of us and I learned that Sam and Emily are actually great people. Emily is very loving, almost like a mother, and Sam is a very strong, but kind person. Vanessa is just what Jake needed in a girl. She's sweet and happy just like Jake, but puts him in his place when it came to him being responsible and a 'grown-up' in general. All in all, these two couples were made up of amazing people.

"Bella," Sam said getting my attention. "Do you remember the legends about the cold-ones?" He asked as Emily cleared the table of everyone's plate. She returned quickly and sat back down between Sam and I.

"Yeah," I said slowly, not sure where he was going with this. "The tribe was shape-shifters and attacked the vam—cold-ones. Jake told me a while ago and Billy told them again at the bonfire." I explained. They didn't know that the Cullens were vampires and even if they had a hunch I didn't need to go spilling the beans on them.

"Well…they're true." Jake said. My eyebrows furrowed together and I stared up at him.

"What? What do you mean?" I asked.

"We know that the Cullens are vampires." Sam said as I stared at him wide-eyed. "And Jake and I, plus most of the people you met are shifters." He said.

"Werewolves." Vanessa added as Jake rolled his eyes. I stared at them for a little while longer before bursting out in laughter.

"You guys almost had me going for a second!" I laughed as I clutched my sides. "I don't know how you found out about the Cullens, but werewolves? Seriously?" I said wiping a tear from my eyes. Jake sighed before standing up and walking towards the back.

"I can't wait to see your face." Vanessa said as she pulled me along with everyone else. Jake was butt-naked and I groaned in disgust. "No! Keep your eyes open!" Vanessa said as I stared at her incredulously. Suddenly Jake's form began to shake before he blew up into a giant brown wolf. I stumbled back and felt my mouth go dry.

"Believe us now?" Sam asked as I blubbered like a fish out of water. This has to be a dream. I bet I didn't even wake up and the interview didn't happen. Crap. That means I have to go through it again. I felt a sharp pinch on my arm and jerked my arm back.

"Sorry, but I was just making sure that you thought you weren't dreaming." Emily said. Jake trotted up to me and sat his big butt down. His tail was wagging and he tilted his head as he looked at me. Sure there was this horse-size wolf in front of me, but the eyes were still Jake's.

"Jake?" I asked hesitantly putting my hand on his head. He nodded his big head before licking my face. "Ew! Gross!" I exclaimed wiping the slobber off my face. Jake barked as everyone else laughed. I punched his shoulder as he went back to the forest line. "So what? You guys go around eating vampires?" I asked turning around to face Sam.

"Not exactly. Only vampires that threaten the tribe. And we don't eat them. Just, you know, rip them apart and burn them." Sam said with a satisfied smirk on his face. If that smile was any bigger it would be a tad creepy. "We are the protectors of the tribe. The Cullens' return to Forks is what triggered the initial phasing. Since then we've been taking down any vampires that have been seen as a threat." Sam explained.

"That's why they're all giants." Vanessa said making Sam roll his eyes.

"So, who is part of this…wolf thing?" I asked.

"Pack." Jake said as he jogged back over to us with shorts on thankfully. "We're a pack. Sam is the alpha or the leader, Jared is the beta AKA second-in-command, and Paul is the gamma, third-in-command." He said and I could feel my nose scrunch up at the mention of Paul's name. "Embry, Quil, Leah, Seth, Brady, and Collin round out the pack." Jake said.

"So, all of you guys are wolves." I said still trying to process all this information. It started to hit me that my potential stepsiblings and potential students are wolves and I could feel myself hyperventilate.

"Bells, relax, we're not going to hurt you." Sam said.

"We're not allowed to hurt you." Jake muttered and I whipped my head towards him.

"What? Why can't you hurt me?" I asked.

"Not saying that we would, but we can't." Jake said not really answering my question.

"Why can't you hurt me?" I asked again. Jake looked over at Sam and Sam was glaring at Jake. Jake winced and dropped his head before shuffling around to hide behind Vanessa.

"There is more to being a wolf than protecting the tribe and huge growth spurts." Sam said.

"What? You guys burn witches at the stake?" I muttered sarcastically. Emily and Vanessa laughed as Sam and Jake glared at me. "Sorry, this whole thing is a little weird." I said.

"Anyway, there's a…ritual of sorts that some wolves go through." Jake explained.

"It's called imprinting." Emily said as she looked at me sympathetically. What's imprinting? Why is Emily staring at me like that? Are they going to burn something onto my skin now since I know about the pack? Oh my God, are they going to sacrifice me or something? I'm going to die because of some stupid werewolf shit? This is just great. I should have stayed in California, but now I'm about to be murdered while a bunch of men dance around me and chanting in a language I can't even comprehend. Suddenly I felt a sharp slap against my face and saw Emily looking at me apologetically. "Sorry, but you were hyperventilating again." She said before patting my cheek softly.

"Imprinting isn't a bad thing, Bella. At least to most people." Jake said trying to ease my apprehension.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Imprinting is when the wolf meets his mate. When we see our imprint our whole focus shifts onto her and she is now our entire world. She is our soul mate." Sam said as he stared at Emily. I looked over to see Jake smiling at Vanessa and Vanessa smiling shyly while biting her lip.

"Wait, so Emily and Vanessa—"

"Yes, we are Jake and Sam's imprints." Vanessa said.

"And everybody else?" I asked as I thought about all the couples that I met.

"Yup. Jared and Kim, Quil and Claire, Leah and Marc, Embry and Angela—"

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on a second," I said interrupting Jake. "Did Angela break up with Ben because of imprinting?" I asked narrowing my eyes on Sam.

"Not necessarily." He said warily rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh my God! I'm all for soul mates, but breaking people's hearts in the process?" I asked outraged.

"Bells calm down. It didn't happen like the way you're thinking." Jake said calmly. "Angela didn't meet Embry and suddenly dump Ben. The imprint requires us to be whatever the imprint wants. If that's her friend, then so be it. Embry was Angela's friend first and she never cheated on Ben with him. Angela eventually saw that she and Ben were drifting apart. They had a mutual breakup. Even after the breakup, Embry didn't tell her about the pack. It was only after they had a couple of dates that he told her about the imprint and the pack." Jake said as my anger subsided. I was genuinely upset at Angela for a moment there. Ben was a nice guy and didn't need to be cheated on or dumped. Angela is too nice to do that to someone else.

"All right, what's the point of telling me all this?" I asked. "I mean, shouldn't only the tribe know?" I asked sitting down on the stairs of Sam's porch.

"There are some special exceptions." Emily said.

"What are the exceptions?" I asked.

"Well, your dad knows—"

"What the hell? Charlie knows!? Why does Charlie know?" I asked shooting up from my spot on the steps. I can't believe my dad knew about all this before me! Wait, does that mean he knew that Edward was a vampire. Probably. I wonder how he feels about that.

"Jake phased in front of him on accident." Vanessa snorted as Jake toed the ground like a five-year-old who got caught doing something he wasn't supposed to do.

"Why did you phase in front of my dad?" I asked narrowing my eyes toward him.

"I wasn't the best at controlling my phasing then and I kind of let the news about you leaving get to me…" Jake said sheepishly not making eye contact with me.

"That's when he had a giant crush on you." Vanessa said stretching her arms out as I blushed. I knew Jake had a crush on me, but it was a whole other thing about his girlfriend (imprint) knowing about it. "Don't worry. I don't care. I know he loves me now and thinks of you as a sister now. And vice versa." Vanessa explained as I smiled gratefully.

"So, Charlie knows? Is he the only exception? Because he saw Jake?" I asked.

"Imprints are the other exception." Emily said as I stared at her. "Otherwise, only select members of the tribe know." She said. I'm not part of the tribe though. Wait, is it because Charlie might marry Sue? But that's not a for sure thing yet. Why do I get to know? Is it because I dated Edward? But he's not here anymore and we're not dating. Suddenly the answer hit me like a ton of bricks and I actually stumbled back from the shock of my realization.

"I-I'm an imprint?" I stuttered as all four of them slowly nodded. I fell back on my butt and shook my head. "Whose imprint am I?" I asked looking up at all of them. They all shared an uneasy look and the answer hit me just like the imprint realization. I groaned and flew back on the ground and throwing my hands over my face. "It's Paul, isn't it?" I muttered through my hands.

"Yeah…" Jake sighed as I groaned again from underneath my hands. "Remember Bella, he's whatever you want him to be. This doesn't mean that you have to date him." Jake said as I sat up and glared at him.

"But you just told me he's my mate!" I exclaimed. Jake shrugged his shoulders as Sam just looked at me apologetically. "Wait, if I'm his imprint, then why isn't he telling me all this?" I asked clamoring back onto my feet.

"Um, Paul isn't having the best time dealing with the news." Emily said. I narrowed my eyes at all of them before stomping out of the backyard.

"Bella! Where are you going?" Jake called out as he followed me.

"I'm going to give this prick a piece of my mind!" I yelled before marching down the street. I remember Sam telling me that Paul lives two houses down from him and that's exactly where I was headed. I didn't hear footsteps behind me so I knew Jake left me to deal with this on my own. Good. I didn't want him meddling with this situation. This is between Paul and I. I trudged up the steps to his door and banged my hand against the red door. His house actually seemed pretty wholesome and I would have admired it more if I wasn't so mad at him. Paul wretched the door open and glared down at me.

"Why are you banging on my door?" He spat glaring down at me. He may be a foot and half taller than me but I wasn't about to let his size intimidate me.

"Where the fuck do you get off, you tool?" I demanded poking him in his chest. Thankfully he was wearing a shirt so I didn't have his amazing body distracting me. Paul stared at me wide-eyed and slacked jawed clearly shocked by my choice of words. Yeah, I may not curse like a sailor like he does, but that doesn't mean I don't drop the f-bomb here and there. "First, you're all nice and sweet to me and then you act like a jackass to me today. Now, I find out you're a wolf and you have your stupid imprint on me?" If it was even possible, Paul's mouth dropped even more and his eyes bugged out more.

"I don't know what you have against me, Lahote, but I don't give a fuck what this imprinting business means. I refuse to be treated so wrongly. I'm not going to sit here and deal with your mood swings and you hiding _important _information. If you want a relationship or whatever with me then you better talk to me and not let Sam and Jake do all your talking. But as of now, I don't want to have anything to do with you. You're a selfish, immature, brat who doesn't know when to be a man and go after what he really wants. If you don't want me to be yours then tell me. I don't want to hear that from Jake and Sam. But you know what? The imprint is about what _I _want apparently, and what I want is for you to drop dead." I sneered officially finishing my rant. I whipped around and did my best Josh-inspired strut away from his house. I was little proud that I didn't managed to trip or stumble on my way out, but my anger was still running through my veins. I made it back to Sam's place in one piece and he and Emily were sitting on the porch. I guess Jake and Vanessa left.

"So…how did it go?" Emily asked nervously.

"Exactly how I wanted it to." I muttered but the feeling of guilt that began to rise in my chest and made me question if I really wanted it to go down that way. What made me more upset is the fact that he didn't chase after me. Maybe he really didn't want me. The fact that I want him to want me makes me even more upset and I can't even stop the tears from eyes. Emily runs up to me and hugs me tightly as I break down and cry into her arms.

"It's going to be ok, Bella." Emily said soothingly as she ran her hand through my hair. I wanted to believe her, but I knew better. This was Paul we were talking about. He puts himself first before anyone else.

**PPOV**

I stormed away from Sam's house and back towards mine. Fucking Bella Swan. With her stupid long legs and sweet ass. Her stupid smooth neck and big doe eyes that managed to stay big behind her glasses. God, she was the embodiment of the sexy librarian/teacher fantasy. Shit, now I'm hard. Who am I kidding? I've been hard since I saw her in that get up. I had to get out of there.

I walked into my house and began pacing my living room. Fuck! Why did Bella have to come back to Forks? If she would have just stayed in California, I would still be a free agent and not have this stupid imprint shit messing with my head 24/7. If I wasn't thinking about Bella, I was thinking about Bella related things. Like the fact that her eyes represented swirling pools of chocolate and I just wanted to poor chocolate all over her and lick it off. The rest of the pack refused to phase with me because of this stupid imprint. I couldn't keep my mind off of her for more than a minute.

My wolf was making it ten times harder. He wanted to be around her all the time. To know she was safe. I refused to go back to her house that one night. I was acting like that fucking bloodsucker, stalking her while she sleeps. I refuse to be like that idiot. I just need to stay away from her. Bella doesn't need me to hold her back. She doesn't need to know about the pack or this stupid imprint. She may have moved back here for the time being, but that doesn't mean she wants to stay here forever. She lived in LA for fuck sakes! Why would she ever want to stay here in rinky-dink La Push for the rest of her life.

I collapsed on my couch and sighed heavily. I dragged my hands over my face as the thoughts of Bella's hands running down my chest filled my mind. Fuck! I need to forget about Bella. It's not going to happen. It's never going to happen. My eyelids soon started to feel heavy and I slowly drifted to sleep on my couch.

Loud banging on my door made me get up from my couch and I was about to kill whoever woke me up. I retracted the thought when her scent wafted into my nose. Why the fuck is she here banging on my door? I got up and threw a shirt on. She didn't seem to focus too well when I had my shirt on. Maybe I should keep it off actually. Eh, too late. I opened the door using all strength not to rip it off its hinges. Bella was glaring up at me and I glared back down at her.

"Why are you banging on my door?" I asked as she put her hands on her hips and glared up at me. Clearly my much bigger form didn't intimidate her.

"Where the fuck do you get off, you tool?" My mouth dropped at the sound of her cursing. I was both shocked and a little turned on. I knew she was spitfire. She shown a little bit of herself after the bonfire, but now she was full-fledge yelling at me and cursing. I'm a little worried about how turned on I am. A quick glance down told me that I wasn't hard. That's good. I don't think she would appreciate me having a hard on. Why was she even yelling at me? What the fuck did I do?

"First, you're all nice and sweet to me and then you act like a jackass to me today. Now, I find out you're a wolf and you have your stupid imprint on me?" My mouth dropped even more as I stared down at her. How does she fucking know about the pack and imprinting? Jake must have told her. Fucking Black. Why the fuck did he tell her? I wanted to avoid all this shit.

"I don't know what you have against me, Lahote, but I don't give a fuck what this imprinting business means. I refuse to be treated so wrongly. I'm not going to sit here and deal with your mood swings and you hiding _important _information. If you want a relationship or whatever with me then you better talk to me and not let Sam and Jake do all your talking." So it was both Sam and Jake who told her. Well, my fist just might need to have a conversation with those two.

"But as of now," Bella said as she glared up me with her suddenly fiery eyes. The warm chocolate brown was now replaced with a heated, dark brown, almost black color. Damn, I fucked up. "I don't want to have anything to do with you. You're a selfish, immature, brat who doesn't know when to be a man and go after what he really wants. If you don't want me to be yours then tell me. I don't want to hear that from Jake and Sam. But you know what? The imprint is about what _I _want apparently, and what I want is for you to drop dead." Bella whipped around hitting me with her fuck-mazing smelling hair and walked away from me with her hips swinging. Shit, I _really_ fucked up. I growled before slamming my door shut seeing as some splinters flew off the wood.

I paced again in my living room as my fist clenched and unclenched. Now she fucking knows about the whole situation! I didn't want this to happen! I didn't want any of this happen! I just wanted Bella to get the fuck out of here and not have to deal with all this shit with the pack and me. But no…Jake and Sam had to run their fucking mouths and tell Bella everything. They've been pressuring me since the bonfire to tell Bella and I refused. I guess they decided to take it their own shitty hands.

Suddenly a painful feeling erupted in my chest bringing me to my knees. I know this feeling. I've heard about this feeling. This is the feeling that the guys get when their imprint is hurting. Shit. I hurt Bella. I got back on my feet though. She'll get over it. We didn't have anything to begin with. Maybe this will cause her to go after what she truly wants. I know she only came back for Charlie. While the chief will be upset she's leaving again, he'll understand. She doesn't need to be here. She needs to be far away.

The thoughts of her leaving made me depressed. I could hear my wolf growling at me. He doesn't want her to leave and if I'm the reason for her leaving, I'm sure he'll be even more pissed. The actual thought of Bella being gone now knowing her a little bit more is shattering my heart. I shook my head. No, I couldn't let these feelings start happening. Bella Swan is not meant for me just like I'm not meant for her. My heart clenched inside my chest and I visibly cringed from the pain. Gah! Stupid imprint!


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N): What's going to happen in Chapter 3? I finally updated so now you can read and find out! Remember to review!**

* * *

**DAY 4: August 17, 2013**

**PPOV**

It was five in the morning and I was sitting on the beach. This was practically the only time that the beach was completely empty. I was sitting on a piece of driftwood as I watched the waves crash into each other and slowly roll onto the sand. After Bella left last night, I ran away from my house. I knew Sam or Jake would come after me badgering me until I talked to Bella. A part of me knew I should go to Bella and apologize, but another part of me didn't want to. Having her pissed at me was better than having her with me. I'm an ass and she doesn't need me ruining her life. There is no way that Bella could handle me.

"Hey ass-wipe." I turned my head to see Leah walking over to me.

"What are you doing out here?" I grumbled tracing circles into the sand with a stick.

"I just got done running my shift." Leah said sitting down next to me on the driftwood. "Jake filled me on the imprint drama you have going on with Bella." She said as I sighed.

"Are you going to sit here and lecture me?" I muttered now stabbing the stick into the sand repeatedly.

"No, Sam told me I should talk to you, but I'm just here to tell you my experience with imprinting. Humor me and at least pretend to listen." Leah said as I rolled my eyes.

"I already know all about your imprinting." I sighed.

"You know the basics. You haven't actually talked me since I've imprinted." She said and I could hear the tone of sadness in her voice. Leah and I were really close before she imprinted. I actually considered her one my best friends along with Sam and Jared. When she imprinted, I couldn't help but feel betrayed. I wasn't in love with her or anything, but she was the only other person in the pack that was on the "imprinting was stupid" bandwagon. After she imprinted, I was alone. Seth is practically giddy with the idea of meeting his imprint and the twins were indifferent about the whole situation. With Leah's imprinting, I felt like I had no one anymore.

"That's not my fault." I grumbled.

"Can you stop acting like a little bitch for five minutes? You've been acting like such a brat ever since you imprinted. Have you ever thought about Bella during this whole thing? Not just about fucking her, but how she feels? You're going to be seeing her a lot more now. She got the job at the high school. Or did you even know that?" Leah informed me. I knew I was being a stubborn ass, but she was right, for once. Not once did I think about Bella's feelings. All I thought about was me. Even I was disgusted with myself. A part of me was happy to hear that Bella got the job at LPHS. That means she would be here a lot more often, but I quickly squashed that feeling. She doesn't need to see me. Who says she would even want to see me?

"I understand how you feel. I hated it when I imprinted on Marc. It was taking all my choices away. This guy pops up and suddenly I'm supposed to be with him? Fuck that." Leah explained as I smirked a little bit. I could imagine Leah perfectly in that situation. I hadn't been there when she imprinted. I was on patrol.

"I didn't want to take away his choices either. Clearly he wasn't from here and I wasn't about to drop this bomb on him and make him stay here. But Embry made me go over and talk to him. Spouting his bullshit about getting to know Angela and how they weren't together yet. He was pestering me and even got Quil to join in on the fun so I left to introduce myself to Marc to get the dynamic duo off my back. Marc and I spent the rest of day walking back and forth on the beach talking about everything and anything. We told each other our pasts and dreams. He told me how his parents died and his dreams of opening up a gym. I told him about dad and Sam and how I wish for kids someday. He took everything with stride. He didn't look at me like some weird Amazonian chick or Sam's sloppy seconds. He was the first person to look at me and see me." She whispered the last part softly and I looked over to see a smile on her face and her eyes had a far-off look in them. I already knew she really loved Marc from the thoughts of him in her head, but the way she explained _why _she loved him gave me a whole new outlook on her and him.

"I'm not saying that's how Bella and you are going to be. I needed someone to look pass my bullshit and actually see me. We need each other and I was able to admit that the imprint made me see that. It's different for everyone. Just give it a chance, Paul. Don't give up on it. Don't give up on Bella." She said before standing up and walking away. Was I giving up on Bella? It's not like she would actually want to go out with me to begin with. I've been such a jerk these past days, I'll be surprised if she ever talked to me again. She did tell me to drop dead. I could feel a literal ache in my chest when I thought about the way she yelled at me with such hate filled eyes.

I shook my head. I can't keep thinking about this. Bella doesn't want me around her. So, it's going to stay that way. I got up from the piece of driftwood I was sitting on and began to run down the beach. As soon as I hit the tree line I phased. The feeling of the smooth soil underneath my paws always calmed me while the green scenery passed by me. I thought running would relax my thoughts, but images of Bella kept flashing in my mind. I headed towards the cliffs. Maybe some cliff diving will get my mind off Bella.

_What are you doing phased?_

The sound of Quil's voice filled my mind, but I ignored him and continued to run towards the cliffs.

_Oh. Never mind. I can see why now._

I could hear his laughter at my thoughts of Bella and growled in my mind. I phased back into my body as soon as I reached the cliffs. The water wouldn't be the warmest in the world, but it's definitely warmer now than it usual is. I sprinted off the cliff and let the weightless feeling overtake me. I closed my eyes and let myself feel the air rush by me before Bella's smiling face returned to my mind. Fuck! I hit the water and quickly swam back up to the surface. Nothing was helping me. I couldn't stop thinking about Bella. I swam back to shore and phased back. I ran back to my house before again phasing back and entering my house.

I went for the shower first. I needed to wash up. I turned the water the hottest it could go and let it beat against my back. My mind flashed back to that night I stood outside Bella's house and heard her in the shower. I was hard instantly. I know she didn't do anything, but I have a wild imagination. I started to stroke myself at the thoughts of Bella soapy and wet. Running her hands down her neck gripping her perky breasts. That's when I would join her. Lift her in my arms and attack her mouth with mine. I would hold her against the shower wall and bury myself inside her. God, I bet she's tight. So fucking tight. Her nails would drag down my back and I'd suck on her neck. Leaving a hickey there so everyone would know that she's MINE. I could imagine her squeezing around my hard cock as she came throwing her head back in pure ecstasy. Suddenly I felt myself cum the hardest I have ever came before. I laid back on my shower wall panting as the water became cold.

Shit. That was the most intense orgasm I have ever had and that was just with my hand. Fuck, Bella's not mine. I can't be thinking like this. I quickly finished washing up and got out of the shower. I slipped on some cutoffs when I heard a knock on the door. I could feel a glimmer of hope rise in my chest thinking it might be Bella, but that was quickly squashed when I smelt that it was Marc. I got to stop acting like this! I can't let this imprint control my life. Bella doesn't need me. I walked over to the door and opened it to see Marc's smiling face.

"What's up, Paul?" Marc asked casually.

"You're here to talk to me about imprinting too, huh?" I asked as he laughed.

"And people don't say you're smart." He said before letting himself in. Marc is a really easy-going and friendly guy. It was weird to see him with Leah, but after hearing what Leah said about him, I could see it more clearly.

"I was one of the only pack members to get a full-ride to UW." I muttered. It was true. I could have gone to UW on a full scholarship, but I had to stay here on the reservation. I don't mind though. I realized that I love construction. I love designing houses and building something from nothing. It wasn't a total loss. If I had gone to UW, I would have probably majored in Architecture or something like that.

"Yeah, yeah, do you want to get this over with or not?" Marc asked plopping down on the couch.

"All right," I sighed heavily before sitting on the coffee table across from him. "Lay it on me."

"Don't force it." He said which caused me to lift my head up and stare at him in confusion. I thought he was going to come over here and tell me to go after Bella and make the imprint happen. But now he's here telling me not to?

"What do you mean?" Marc sighed before leaning back on my couch and staring at his hands.

"When Leah first told me about the imprint, I flipped my shit. Not in front of her, but later. I mean, what the fuck is that? My girlfriend is a werewolf and she has some weird wolf claim on me? I didn't fucking understand it. That's when I went to Boston to visit my aunt. I told her I needed time to figure this stuff out and I can remember the sadness etched on her face like it happened yesterday. I felt bad, I really did, but this whole thing was freaking me out and I just needed to clear my head." Marc said. I was surprised to hear this. Where the fuck was I when this was happening? Shit. Maybe Leah was right. I guess I really did stop paying attention to her as soon as she imprinted.

"I was making up so many excuses in my head. Excuses as to why this was wrong and I wasn't in love with her. But that's thing. They were just excuses. I tried to force myself to not love Leah and not miss her, but it was so damn hard. I tried to convince myself that this was just the imprint. I wouldn't love her if it weren't for that, but I knew I was just being stupid. My aunt told me I was stupid. I didn't tell her about the imprinting stuff, but she told me not to mess up things with Leah. She told me that that was the first time I looked satisfied with my life. Ever since my parents died I had this manic energy about myself. I had to always do things. Always try new things. Always seek out thrilling adventures. I was happy, sure, but I wasn't satisfied with my life. Leah made me happy to be in my life. I don't have to do anything crazy to make my life worth living. I just have to look at her and I know that it really is." He finished with the same far off look Leah had earlier.

"I still don't understand what you mean by 'don't force it.'" I asked for him to clarify.

"Don't force yourself to be away from Bella. I don't know what you guys are going to be, but you can't keep away from her. I tried and it didn't work out." He said. I let his words sink in. Maybe I shouldn't be doing what I'm doing. For some reason fate thinks I need to be with Bella and she needs to be with me. Fuck. I really don't want to have to do this. But I can't keep Bella out of my mind. Everything is her, her, her. I can't escape it. Maybe that means I should stop trying to run away.

"Hey, do you have any food? I kinda skipped out on breakfast." Marc asked sheepishly as I rolled my eyes.

**BPOV**

After my breakdown in front of Emily and Sam, Laura called me and told me that I got the job. That made me forget about Paul temporarily, but now, I'm in my house by myself. Why did I have to say all that to him? Why did he have to be such a jackass? Why did I have to be his imprint? Who thought that, that would be a good idea? Whoever it was, was definitely on something when they thought of this. I heard a knock at my door and grumbled. I didn't want to get up.

"Bella! We know you're in there!" Was that Kim? What does she mean 'we'? Who else is with her? I sighed making my shoulders slouch forward. I begrudgingly shuffled over to my door and opened it to see Kim and Angela.

"Hi Bella." Angela greeted. I frowned and walked back towards my living room leaving the door open so they could come in.

"Man, Leah was right. You and Paul do belong together." Kim muttered. I sent a glare in her direction making her and Angela giggle. "Yup. Totally belong together." Kim reiterated.

"Stop saying that. I don't want Paul." _And he doesn't want me. _I frowned at my conscious and collapsed back down on the couch. I don't know why I was so hurt at the thought of Paul not wanting me. It's not like I pursued him in hopes to date him. He was just a guy that drove me home one time. _And the thought of his naked body turns you on more than you have ever thought possible. _I sighed heavily and threw one of my couch cushions over my face.

"You need to stop moping, Bella. Imprinting is not the end of the world." Angela said as she moved my legs and sat on the couch. Angela moved my legs back on her lap and I groaned.

"Easy for you to say. You have Embry." I muttered through the pillow.

"I didn't like the imprint." I heard Kim say quietly. I lifted the cushion off my face and stared at her wide-eyed.

"I thought you had the biggest crush on Jared before the imprint?" I asked as Kim sat on the coffee table.

"That's the thing. Jared never paid me any attention before the imprint and then suddenly he did. When he told me about the imprint I was really hurt. I thought he only liked me because of the imprint. Why else would he start paying attention to me?" She said as I sat up and moved my legs off of Angela. "I stopped talking to him. He kept calling and calling trying to figure out why I wasn't talking to him. I think Emily finally told him because he appeared at my house and started on this rant about how _he _always had a crush on _me_, but never talked to me because one of his older friends had called 'dibs' on me." Kim said as Angela started snickering. "It was high school, what else would you expect? But he started naming all these little details about me before we even started dating. He showed me that he really did love me beyond the imprint. The imprint finally just gave him the guts to pursue me." She said with a shrug of her shoulders, but a huge smile appeared on her face.

"That's great for you, Kim, but I doubt Paul is going to show up to my house and proclaim his undying love for me." I said. The thing these two aren't getting is that Jared and Embry are nice guys, Paul is an ass. Paul has nothing to prove to me. He doesn't love me.

"Paul is not a bad guy, Bella. Don't count him out just yet." Angela said.

"Angela, you don't say anything mean about anybody." I muttered staring at her.

"Paul really isn't a bad guy. Sure, he can be a prick every now and then, but he's a genuine guy." Kim said.

"So what? He doesn't want me and I don't want him. It's as simple as that." Kim and Angela exchanged a look before bursting out in laughter. "What?" I asked a little offended. Are they laughing at me?

"You really think Paul doesn't want you?" Kim asked wiping a tear from her eye.

"He seemed pretty straight forward about his feelings towards me." I said as Angela giggled before slinging her arm around my shoulders.

"You should really be in the pack mind." Angela said. Pack mind?

"What's the pack mind?" I asked looking at her with a raised an eyebrow.

"When all the guys are phased they all share a mind. They can see what each of them are thinking and memories. Only when they're phased though." Kim explained. So, they all can see what they're thinking when they're phased together? That's weird. Well, I guess it helps since they can't actually speak to each other. Probably makes them bond more.

"Paul has thought about you _a lot_." Kim said making me blush. "The entire pack refuses to phase the same time as him because of it." She said.

"Trust me, Paul _definitely _wants you." Angela said. I don't get it. Apparently Paul does want me, but he acts like he doesn't want to be around me? Why is he acting this way? Maybe the imprint is messed up. Or maybe Paul is bipolar. The latter seems more likely.

"You just got to be patient with him." Kim said. I sighed and nodded. _If _Paul did apologize or try to pursue me, I guess I could give him a chance. This imprint business is confusing, but possibly together we can figure something out. I just know that I'm not going to be the first one to do something about it!

Angela and Kim hung around for a bit longer before heading back to the reservation. They invited me, but I declined because Charlie was going to come over for dinner. We haven't had much of a chance to hang out just the two of us. I started making Charlie's favorite (steak and potatoes) when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw it was Jill who was calling me.

"Hey Jill!" I said as I placed the phone between my shoulder and ear.

"_Bella! Guess what Josh and I are going to do!" _She sounded excited. So it must be good news.

"Work in a movie together?" I guessed and was answered with a snort.

"_I wish! We're going to visit you! Josh is already complaining about the weather by the way." _Jill said as I smiled brightly.

"No way! When are you guys going to come?" I asked. I couldn't wait to see them. I missed them so much. Jill moved right after graduation and Josh's family gave him a trip to Europe for his graduation gift so I haven't seen them since graduation.

"_We're arriving in Seattle on the 22nd. Josh's flight comes in at 10 and mine comes in at 12_. _What has been going on though? I haven't heard from you since you moved there!" _Jill asked as I wrote their arrival on my calendar in the kitchen. I hesitated at her question. I wanted to tell Jill about Paul, but I can't tell her about the pack or imprinting. I decided to omit the information. If Paul and I do become something (I doubt it) then I'll tell her.

"Nothing much. Just catching up with Charlie and getting to know his lady friend. I got a job on the reservation though!" I announced excitedly as I pulled the steaks out of the oven.

"_Really?! What are you doing?" _

"I'm going to be teaching senior and junior honor classes. I actually met some kids on the rez who will probably be in my class."

"_Be careful. One friendly move and you're one step away from a bad porno." _

"Gross! Brady and Collin are like five years younger than me, but they act like they're 12. I really hope that not all the students are like that."

"_Don't you know public education is just one big daycare?" _

"You're making me feel better and better about taking this job."

"_I'm just bitter because I'm still unemployed and living with my parents." _

"No luck on the dance studio?" I asked sadly. Even though Jill claimed that she didn't know what she wanted to do, I know deep down that she wanted to open a dance studio for kids and teens.

"_No! It's so hard to get a freakin' loan for a business here. There's already dozens of dance studios too." _She grumbled disappointedly.

"Hang in there. I'm sure something will come up." I reassured while plating the mashed potatoes. I glanced at the clock and knew Charlie would be arriving soon.

"_Hopefully. Anyways, on a lighter note, any of those small town boys catch your eye yet?" _

"Yes." I blurted out without even think. Shit.

"_Oh my God! Who's the guy?" _She practically squealed in excitement.

"It's not that big a deal." Trying to back out of this situation fast.

"_Um yes it is! You haven't dated anyone since Shawn and that was the beginning of junior year. You never date or even look at guys. So, this guy must be special." _

"Shawn wasn't special."

"_Duh. You just dated him because you were horny and he was willing." _Jill said bluntly making me blush. _"C'mon Bella! What's his name at least?" _

"Paul." I let out reluctantly.

"_Paul what? Is he hot? Is he smart? What does he do? Is he tall? Buff?" _Jill continued her great inquisition when Charlie entered the house.

"All right, all right, Jill. I gotta go. Charlie is here." I said as Charlie hung up his jacket and holster.

"_This isn't over, Swan." _She threatened.

"I'll see you in a few days, Watts." I shot back before hanging up my phone.

"Jill is coming to visit?" Charlie asked as he made a reach with his finger towards the mashed potatoes. I slapped his hand as my nose scrunched up.

"Wash your hands! I don't know what you've been touching all day." I said as Charlie rolled his eyes, but moved towards the sink anyways. "Her and Josh are coming here on the 22nd. Think I can borrow Sue's car again?" I asked.

"Why don't you just have one of the boys go with you? It's a long drive." Charlie said drying his hands.

"I don't think I want to sick Josh on one of them so soon." I said moving the steaks and potatoes to the table. I grabbed the premade salad I bought from the fridge and brought that to the table too.

"Josh doesn't bite." He said with a smirk on his face. He has seen first hand how crazy Josh can be and I don't think any of the guys, wolves or not, would be prepared for him.

"You don't think I can handle the drive, dad?" I asked handing him a beer and sitting down across from him.

"It's a six hour drive total, Bells. It would be comforting to know that you'll have someone with you who knows the area." He said cutting into his steak but not before awkwardly clearing his throat. Charlie doesn't like (or know how) to show affection and whenever there's the slightest inclination of it he gets all flustered and embarrassed. I know he's always looking out for me and the little things he does shows me he really loves me.

"Fine," I surrendered. "I'll ask Jake or Seth to tag along." I said before remembering something. "Speaking of the boys," I said as Charlie raised his eyebrow in question. "You know that they're werewolves." I said as Charlie stared at me bug-eyed.

"_You _know?" He sputtered.

"Yes, Sam and Jake told me. Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"If you know, you would know that I couldn't tell anybody."

"I know, I'm just pushing your buttons, dad."

"I raised such a smart ass."

"The best around." Charlie smiled softly before eating his food. I made sure to sneak some salad onto his plate. A man can't live off just meat and potatoes. "Why did Jake and Sam tell you?" He asked when a lull in our conversation formed. Shit. What do I tell him? I can't tell him I'm an imprint. He'd probably freak!

"Um, you know, they decided that since you knew and I got the job at the school, it would be best if I knew." I lied. Charlie stared me for a moment before returning to his food. Phew. That should do. It's not a total lie. Sam did express how helpful it would be to have someone in the know about the pack working at the school since Brady and Collin were still there and might miss a few days.

"Crazy, huh?" He asked.

"Yup. I'm surprised you didn't try to shoot Jake." I said.

"I was reaching for my gun when Sam came running out." He chuckled as I laughed along with him. "So that Cullen boy was a vampire?" He asked.

"Don't remind me." I groaned.

"I'm just happy to see you over that boy. I knew there was something off about him. I just assumed that he was on drugs." He said as I laughed. I was overdramatic about the whole thing with Edward and when I think back to it, it's really embarrassing. "If I knew he was over 100 years old, I would have pressed charges." Charlie muttered making me laugh again.

"You don't have to worry about Edward anymore. I realized how stupid I was." I said placing my hand on Charlie's. He smiled softly and I squeezed his hand one more time before letting go. Charlie and I ate in silence only talking about a few things here and there. It wasn't awkward. Dinners with him were always like this and I genuinely missed them when I was in California. Charlie may not be the most obvious person when it comes to affection, but I know he cares and I'm truly grateful for his presence in my life. I sat at watched the Mariners game with him before he grabbed his stuff and left for Sue's. He told me to visit more often and I told him the same.

Once I was alone, my thoughts rushed back to Paul. Angela and Kim were so sure that he wanted me, but I don't know. It's one thing to hear it from your friends and another thing to hear it from him. I decided it was time to head to bed and hopefully stop thinking about Paul. That didn't happen. I tossed and turned all night between dreams of Paul and wolves. It was only around five in the morning that I was able to fully pass out from sheer exhaustion.

**DAY 5: August 18, 2013**

The next night, I was sitting in my living room eating the leftovers from last night and watching _How I Met Your Mother _when I heard a small knock on my door. It was so quiet that I honestly thought that I just heard it in my head, but it was quickly accompanied by a louder knock. I sighed and got off my couch. Can I just have a day alone where I can veg out? I brushed the invisible crumbs off my legs and walked over to the door. Lo and behold, Paul Lahote was standing at my door. Did my heart just stop beating?


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N): New chapter! Don't be afraid to ask me questions guys! I'll be glad to answer (almost) any question you throw at me. I love you all for reading and reviewing! It means a lot and I hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

* * *

**DAY 5: August 18, 2013**

**PPOV**

I sighed heavily and stared at the door in front of me. I could hear Bella inside and it sounded like she was watching _How I Met Your Mother_. Well, at least we can bond on one thing. I fucking love _How I Met Your Mother_. Focus Paul. You need to apologize to Bella. I raised my hand and lightly knocked on her door. _What kind of bitch-ass knock was that? _I growled lowly and straightened my posture. I knocked louder this time and heard Bella get up. Bella opened the door and I had to stop myself from slamming her against the wall and fucking her right there.

It should be illegal for her to wear shorts that short. I could practically see all of her milky legs and I just wanted to lick them. I shook my head and looked down at her to see that she was staring at me with wide eyes. God, I love those eyes. Whoa there Lahote…you're just here to apologize.

"Um, hey, can I come in?" I asked. Bella blushed and nodded before opening the door wider to let me in. I walked in and looked around her house. I had seen it when the chief was living here, but now it looked completely different. The furniture was new and all the fishing stuff was gone. Bella had placed some new pictures on the mantel and tables, but I couldn't see what they were exactly. A TV still hung in the corner of the living room and was currently playing one of my favorite episodes of _How I Met Your Mother_.

"You like _How I Met Your Mother_?" I asked looking back at Bella who was standing at the steps.

"Yeah, but it comes second to _Friends_." Bella said as I rolled my eyes. Jared also liked _Friends _more. "Paul, why are you here?" She asked meekly. Sure, now she's shy, but only a few days ago she was yelling at me with fire in her eyes. Those chocolate brown eyes…God damn it! Focus!

"I came here to apologize." I said smoothly. You got this. Don't fuck it up.

"What?" Bella squeaked.

"Can we sit down?" I asked motioning to the couch. She nodded and walked over to the couch. I briefly checked out her sweet ass before sitting on the opposite end of the couch. "I'm sorry for all this shit. I'm new to this whole imprint thing and I didn't want to drag you into it." I explained. "I never liked the idea of the imprint. Not only is it taking away my choice, but it's taking away yours. I'm sure you don't want to be with me." I mumbled looking down.

"You don't know that." She said. I looked up at her to see that she had folded her legs underneath herself and her body was turned to face me. "You don't know me, Paul and maybe that's why you were trying so hard to prevent this to happen. I don't know what this imprinting business is either and I know less than you. All I got is what people have told me, none of which came from _you_." She said practically pleading with her eyes to work with her.

"I…I know you deserve better." I murmured hanging my head low.

"Paul," Bella said scooting closer to me. "I don't know you. You don't me. I'm sure you've heard things about me, like I've heard things about you, but those things are not us. Can we just get to know each other and then decide what we want to be? Forget the imprint. You're you and I'm me. No wolf. No imprint." Bella suggested.

"I'm sorry, Bella." I said turning to face Bella.

"You said that already, Lahote." She said with a smile on her face. "I forgive you, Paul. I know this is all…overwhelming." She said pulling at the ends of her sleeves.

"Tell me about it," I said leaning back on her couch. "What are we going to do?" I asked looking at her for guidance. I know what I want to do, but I doubt she want to do that right off the bat.

"How about we sit here and finish watching these last few episodes of _How I Met Your Mother_?" She suggested smiling at me.

"I'd like that." I said and I really meant it. Bella and I sat next to each other and watched the last few episodes of season five. We laughed at appropriate parts and I actually started to feel comfortable around Bella.

"Did you see the Mother?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, she's cute. I think she'll be good with Ted." I said thinking back to the brunette with big brown eyes that was introduced as the Mother. Thinking of brown hair and eyes made me think of Bella and how much I want to wrap my fingers around that brown hair and kiss her senseless. I shook my head.

"I agree. I think she's perfect for Ted. Ted needs some quirky and cute, not hot, ya know?" She asked turning her head to stare at me with said brown eyes.

"Yeah," I said and heard a wolf howl. I looked at the clock she had hanging up and cursed. "Sorry, I didn't realize the time. I'm late for patrol." I said standing up.

"Oh, it's ok. I'm sure you'll be back." Bella said standing up with me.

"That confidant, Swan?" I asked smirking down at her. Jeez, I didn't realize how short she was. I think she's a full foot shorter than me. I guess when she was yelling at me she seemed a lot bigger.

"Well I am your imprint after all." She said batting her long lashes and smiling innocently. I scoffed and rolled my eyes making her laugh. "How about dinner later?" She offered.

"Better make a lot." I said shedding my shirt off. "I'm going have to phase here." I said as her eyes widened. "Not here, here. Outside. Quil is going to throw a fit because I'm late. Mind if I leave my clothes here?" I asked as Bella blushed.

"U-Uh, sure…I guess you can leave them on the back porch." Bella stuttered and this time I didn't even try to hide my smirk.

"Give me your phone." I said before stepping outside. Bella padded over to the couch and grabbed her iPhone off of the side table and walked back while handing it to me. I inputted my number and sent my phone a text. I could feel my phone vibrate in my pocket with the text and gave her phone back to her. "There, now we have each other's numbers." I said as Bella smiled softly. I walked outside holding my shirt and beginning to unbutton my jeans. "Be safe." Bella called out softly. It made me stop and I felt a warmness rise in my chest. She actually cared for me. I don't know if it was the imprint making her feel this way or she genuinely cared. Either way, it made me fell nice.

"Always am." I said before jumping off of the porch so my bottom half was covered by the deck. I pulled my pants down while winking at Swan. She rolled her eyes and closed the door before walking back into her house. I'm guessing she didn't want to give me the satisfaction of seeing her flustered by my banging bod. I chuckled lightly at her actions before folding up my clothes and laying my shoes on them. I phased and ran into the woods behind her house.

_Took you long enough jackass! _

Quil yelled in my mind as I ran towards him to take his post. I simply chuckled and he snorted when he saw my thoughts of the night with Bella.

_I should have seen this coming. Just be late when it's someone else's shift and not mine!_

He yelled before I approached his wolf sitting there. He let out a wolfy huff before trotting back to his house. I chuckled as soon as he phased back and jogged around the usual perimeter. Sam put me back on night shifts since I was acting like a brat towards Bella. I guess I deserve it. Hopefully when he sees me actually trying he'll lay off.

_Sup dude?_

I heard Jared enter my mind. What was he doing here? I'm supposed to be the only one on patrol.

**What are you doing here?**

_Heard Quil's rant about you being late, thought I see what all the hubbub was about you and Bella._

I could practically hear him smirking and I rolled my eyes. Jared in my best friend though and I would have probably told him anyways.

**I apologized to her and she accepted. **

_And? That it? _

**We watched **_**How I Met Your Mother**_**. She likes **_**Friends **_**better too, by the way.**

_Awesome. I already liked Bella, but this makes her even better. So what? Are you guys together or…_

**Friends, I guess? She wants to get to know each other. No imprint business. Just us. **

_Sounds like a plan. How do you feel about that?_

**All right. I mean, yeah I want to fuck her every second I'm with her and even when I'm not with her, but I want to get to know her too. **

_Thanks for telling me that…I could see it in your thoughts anyways, didn't really need to hear you say it. _

**She's…nice.**

_Just be yourself, Paul._

**Yeah, 'cause that worked so well for me in the past. **

_I'm serious. Bella will fall in love with _you. _Not some gentlemen wannabe or an unconfident pussy. Be yourself. Bella is a grown woman, she can handle anything you dish out. _

**Sure about that, Cameron? **

_Positive, Lahote. You're not as much of a douchebag as you think you are. _

**I've been told otherwise. **

_Just don't fuck this up, Paul. I really like Bella and I know you. You guys are meant for each other and I would hate to see either of you mess that up. _

**I would hate for that to happen too…**

And I really meant it.

**Day 6: August 19, 2013**

**BPOV**

Ok Bella, stay confident. It is just Paul. You told off Paul before, you can talk to him. You did so last night. _Not really, you barely said anything to him. _Damn it. It's just dinner. I don't have to impress him. He's just trying to get to know me and I'm trying to get to know him. That is it. Nothing is going to happen. _Too bad. _I frowned at my own thoughts before leaving my (Sue's) car. I was currently at the grocery store to buy supplies for dinner. Sure, I had enough food for me, but I definitely didn't have enough for Paul. I've seen how much the pack puts away. I'm going to need a lot.

I grabbed a cart and wheeled it inside. I'm still debating between two meals. Steaks would definitely provide a lot of protein, but I just made steaks for Charlie a couple nights back. Pasta would fill him up faster, but I still should provide some protein. Maybe Chicken Alfredo, yeah, I think that'll be good. I went to the pasta section first to grab the pasta and possibly some bread for garlic bread. I was debating between fettuccine and penne pasta when I heard a sharp gasp.

"Oh my gosh! Bella Swan!" I cringed and turned around to see Jessica Stanley. A very pregnant Jessica Stanley. Am I already at that age when everybody I know from high school is having babies or getting married? Good God, how does her stomach stretch out that much? How she able to walk? By the way she was waddling over to me, I assumed walking was the least of her problems.

"I heard you were coming back to town! I didn't know you were already back! How are you? How was California?" Jessica asked pulling me in for an awkward hug around her stomach. I laughed uneasily and patted her back before letting go.

"Um, yeah, I moved back a couple of days ago. I'm good. California was great, but I thought it was finally time to return home and spend more time with my dad." I said briefly. I didn't want to give out too much information to Jessica. If she's still like anything she was in high school, my business would be known be the entire population of Forks. "How are you? I see that you have one on the way." I said smiling sweetly. Even though Jessica was a huge gossip, she was still a nice girl and was a good friend to me back in high school.

"I'm great! Mike and I got married our third year at UW and now we're about to have our first child! I could not be more excited! Mike was over the moon with the news! He's hoping for a boy, but we won't know until the fateful day. Decided to keep it a secret, ya know? I don't think we should bombard our child with gender stereotypes. I learned all about these kinds of things in my Sociology class. Did I tell you I graduated with a degree in Business? Mike did too and now he's running Newton's Sporting Goods. I started my own online business selling jewelry. Mike's cousin, Mindy, has a real niche for making jewelry and people all over the world are buying. It's actually a really good business. Mindy gets 60 percent of the profits and she generously gives me 40 percent. I was trying to do 80/20, but she wouldn't have it. She is such a sweetheart." Jessica continued to ramble on as I just nodded and continued my shopping. She followed me around the entire store retelling her life and I murmured every now and then to let her known that I was actually listening. I was only half-listening. It was like high school all over again.

"What about you Bella? Any men in your life?" Jessica asked once I grabbed 10 pounds of chicken breast. "You sure are buying a lot of food. I'm assuming you have someone to cook for." She giggled as I blushed.

"Um, not really, I mean, no boyfriend right now. I just came back and yeah, haven't really gotten the chance to meet anyone, yeah." God, I'm so awkward. I kept thinking about Paul and that didn't even let me answer correctly.

"Too bad. We could have double-dated! Have you seen Angela yet? She is engaged to a real hunk of man! Don't get me wrong, I love my Mike, but good lord! He's one of the natives from the reservation. Didn't you know someone from the reservation? What was his name? Jason...Jack—"

"Jacob. His name is Jake. Yeah, I've seen Angela. Her fiancé, Embry, is actually one of Jake's best friends. I knew him before I left. My dad is actually dating someone from the reservation and is now living there. I live in the old house by myself, but I got a job on the rez so I spend a lot of time there." I said. I briefly wondered if I should be telling Jessica all this, but it wasn't exactly saying anything bad or anything particular interesting. The whole town already knew Charlie was dating Sue, according to Mrs. Rose from the bookstore. Otherwise, I didn't say anything particular juicy.

"How nice! I can't wait for the wedding! What job are you doing on the reservation?" Jessica asked as I picked up some herbs and garlic.

"Teaching at the high school. I'll be teaching English honor classes. I'm really excited for it." I said bagging the herbs and garlic.

"That's awesome! Well, it looks like you're done with your shopping and I haven't even finished mine! It was great catching up with you Bella. Don't be a stranger!" Jessica said hugging me one more time before pushing her cart away from me. Phew. I made it through that. I checked out of my groceries and packed my car up before driving back to my house.

I unpacked all the groceries and checked the clock. Paul texted me saying he'll come around six and looking up at the clock meant I had two hours before he showed up. I debated for a little bit deciding if I should cook now and then change or change and then cook. I decided on the latter and went upstairs to change out of my sweats and into some jeans and a decent looking shirt. I threw my hair into a ponytail and walked downstairs. I began cooking all the food and put my phone on the small dock I had and let music fill the kitchen. I got into the habit of cooking with music on from Josh since he always had music playing around him.

I pulled the chicken out of the oven and began to slice it when _House of Gold _began to play. I began singing to the song as I alternated between stirring the sauce and cutting up the chicken. I swayed my hips slightly to the tune of the ukulele and drained the pasta. Twenty-One Pilots wasn't my favorite band, but they did have a couple of good songs. I put the garlic bread in the oven and began mixing the different ingredients for the pasta together. I didn't realize I was singing aloud until I screamed,

"'_Become someone!'_" I threw my arm in the air and quickly dropped it when I heard a chuckle behind me. I swiftly turned around to see Paul leaning on the doorframe with the same charcoal gray t-shirt and black jeans from yesterday. Did he just put on his clothes now? How did he get in without me noticing?

"You got some skills, Swan." Paul smirked while crossing his arms over his chest.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked eyeing him suspiciously.

"Long enough." He remarked before walking over to me. My heart pounded faster and faster with every step closer he took towards me. "Shit, that looks good. Chicken Alfredo is one of my favorites." He said staring at the food over my head.

"Great, I'm almost done. Just have to put the finishing touches." I said turning back around to continue my work on the food. I could feel Paul move away from me and I watched from the corner of my eye to see that he plopped himself down on a chair.

"What did you do today?" He asked.

"I made some of my lessons plans and then I went to the grocery store. I actually ran into a girl I went to high school with and that was an experience." I murmured thinking about my encounter with Jessica.

"Oh yeah? Who was it?" Paul asked as I looked over at him. He was resting his forearms on his thighs and leaning forward towards me. Was he actually interested in knowing?

"Nice, I guess, Jessica, that's her name, was always nice to me. She's just…talkative. I didn't want to tell her a lot because if I did, it would be all over town by now." I said pulling the garlic bread out of the oven.

"Jessica Newton? Angela told me about her." He said and I laughed softly at the sound of her actually being called a Newton.

"Yeah, she's a nice girl. Do you want something to drink? I forgot to ask. I have water, some beer, juice…" I asked walking over to my fridge and pulling the door open.

"A beer would be fine." Paul said and I brought him one. I brought over the food and we both served ourselves. Of course Paul's plate was loaded and I was grateful that he allowed me to fill my plate first. We began to eat, but didn't say anything to each other. It wasn't the most awkward silence I have ever experienced, but it wasn't exactly comfortable.

"Wanna play 20 questions?" I asked.

"Sure, asker has to answer their own question so we don't go back and forth." Paul said taking a sip from his beer. I pursed my lips trying to think of a question to ask him. I wanted to get to know him, but maybe I should start out small.

"Favorite movie and why?" I asked.

"Damn, that's a tough one." He said leaning back in his chair and rubbing his chin. "It's a toss up between _Forrest Gump _and the first _Godfather_. I never get tired of watching _Forrest Gump, _I'm pretty sure I can quote the entire film, and _The Godfather _is a great movie. Organized crime always fascinated me. It's easy to go around fucking shooting people and robbing banks, but to actually have everything planned out and be one step ahead of the cops, that's pretty fucking awesome." He explained making me laugh.

"I think Charlie would love to know that you're so into organized crime." I quipped.

"What he doesn't know, doesn't hurt me." He smirked making me laugh again. "What about you? Favorite movie?" He asked.

"_Jerry Maguire _hands down. I'm not into sports, but I remember watching that movie with Charlie so many times and it's actually a great movie still. Ray has a special place in my heart." I said placing my hand over my heart.

"Ah, the days when Tom Cruise was a good actor." Paul said as I frowned.

"I know, after that one rock musical movie, I just lost hope." I pouted. Nineties Tom Cruise was the best, I don't know what happened once we hit the millennium. "Your turn." I said before taking a bite of my bread.

"Who are your best friends?" Paul asked. The question surprised me. I thought he would ask me something trivial like I had did.

"Um, they're names are Josh and Jill. Angela is one of my longest friends and I consider her one, but in my eyes Josh and Jill are the ones who really helped me become who I am today. They're pretty much the opposite of each other. Josh is this 6'3 black guy who is obsessed with video games and comic books. He's currently in LA trying to make it as an actor. Jill is a 4'11, half white, half Japanese girl with the most sincere personality and intentions. She is in Baltimore and trying to start her own dance studio. They're actually going to visit in a couple of days." I said smiling as I thought about my two best friends.

"I can't wait to meet them." Paul said as I smiled softy.

"I should warn you, Josh is a little…out there." I smirked.

"Well, let's see if I can pass the test." He said before taking a sip of his beer. I laughed as I thought about Paul and Josh meeting. I'm sure that's going to be a moment to remember. I froze for a second. Was I really going to introduce Paul to Josh and Jill? What am I even supposed to introduce him as? 'Hey guys! This is my werewolf mate!' We're not dating…well, I guess this is a date, but we're just getting to know each other. _Isn't that the point of dating? _I frowned. I didn't know what I wanted to be with Paul. I mean, are we supposed to be together? All the other imprints are with their wolves. I don't think this is the time to think about it sitting across from said wolf. "Who are your best friends?" I asked. I knew everyone in the pack was close, but I wanted to know who he was closest too.

"Jared and Sam. I've known Jared since we were kids. He's always been there for me even when I pushed him away. Sam's the alpha and everything, but he's still one of my best friends. When he's not in alpha mode, he's a great guy and is always looking out for me." He said as I smiled. Jared and Sam were great guys and they seemed like even better guys after Paul talked about them.

"Who did you lose your virginity to and how many people have you slept with?" I asked. Paul looked at me wide-eyed, but I just kept my composure. I've heard of Paul's conquests and if we do end up together I don't want to be contracting anything.

"That's two questions." He said with a smirk on his face.

"Don't act like you don't want to know about me." I said as I raised an eyebrow challenging him. He chuckled and raised his hands in surrender.

"I lost my virginity when I was 16, before I phased, to Rebecca Moore. I have slept with eight girls." Paul said and I could feel my eyebrows shoot up into my hairline. "Too high?" He asked.

"I was honestly expecting more." I said as he threw a hand dramatically over his chest and gasped. I giggled and crossed my legs underneath me. "I'm sorry, but I've heard a lot of things." I teased as he rolled his eyes.

"What about you, Swan?" He asked with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes, but a curious eyebrow pointed in my direction.

"I lost it to Tyler Crowley, senior year." I said as his mouth dropped. "What?" I exclaimed feeling embarrassed.

"You lost it here? I thought it would have been in college." Paul said surprised by my admission.

"Well, I was looking for some comfort and Tyler seemed very willing. Including him, I've only been with four guys." I said and I swore I heard a growl, but when I looked back up at him, he had no expression on his face. Was Paul jealous? Hmm, something to touch on in the future. For the next 10 questions we went back and forth with little questions. Nothing too serious. I learned that Paul is really into architecture and building. He told me he actually remodeled his house and if I wasn't so angry at the moment I approached his house, I could probably remember his house a lot more. I remembered I liked it though. He told me about his scholarship to UW, but he's happy with his life now and he doesn't need a college degree for that. I learned that he was 6'5, but not the tallest of the pack (Embry, Jake, and Sam) and he learned that he was in fact a foot taller than my 5'5 self. It was only when I cleared the table that we started to ask the deep questions.

"Do you not like your mom?" Paul asked.

"I love Renee. She was my best friend before coming here. It's just that though. She's like my best friend. Not my mother. I took care of myself and her. I talk to her every now and then, but she's off with Phil, her husband, in Florida. She doesn't need me anymore. She has someone to take care of her. I don't mind though. I'm happy for her." I explained. It was true. Everybody always thinks I loathe my mom because of the way she raised me, but I don't. I understand that that's how she is. I can't expect her to change. I love her just the way she is. "What are your parents like?" I asked. Paul grimaced and crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I said noticing his sudden discomfort.

"Tell me about Edward." Paul said looking up at me. His dark eyes met mine and I could see that this was an opportunity. He'll open up if I open up. I debated in my head the outcome while Paul stared at me. His stare was neither intimidating or pressuring. He looked at me with curiosity and hesitation. He was wondering if I would open up to him and if I was an appropriate person to know what happened to his parents. Paul is my imprint, my supposed soul mate, maybe he deserves to know the truth about Edward. I sighed and stared down at my hands as I played with the hemline of my shirt.

"The whole thing with Edward made me embarrassed. Embarrassed about everything." I spoke as I could feel the tears well up in my eyes and my voice become thick.

"Bella—"I stopped Paul by lifting up my hand, but not looking at him.

"He told me he didn't love. He didn't want me. Here I was about to give my life for this guy and he just played me for a fool. I was mad at him for the longest time. He took a part of me with him. I was so desperate to see him, to have him back. But I realized that this was all me. Granted, I don't know why Edward suddenly left me, but the way I took it was all me. I was pathetic." It was at this point that the tears began to spill and I looked up to my ceiling to try and stop them. "I was so stupid. I let this vampire dazzle me only to leave me and I become a poor-excuse of a woman. I hated myself. I blamed myself for letting Edward do that to me. I blamed myself for a long time. I was so harsh on myself that it was obvious to everyone. Charlie tried to build me up, but he couldn't do it. He was nervous about me going to school so far away, but my mind was set." I exhaled heavily before looking back down in my lap. My hands continued to play with my top, but suddenly I saw large, tan hands surround mine and an overwhelming sense of comfort come over me. I looked up to see Paul staring at me with complete understanding and non-judgment. No sympathy. I didn't want sympathy from him. I was tired of the sympathy I got from everyone after Edward left me.

"That's when I met Josh and Jill." I said shaking my head with a small smile on my face. "They were so easy to open up to and while at first they let me continue my self-misery, they finally had it and called an intervention. They both took me out from my dorm and told me how great I was. Told me how worth it I was .What 'it' was, I never knew, but they told me I had worth. They of course said Edward was an idiot and all the usual ex-boyfriend stuff. But they were the ones to make me feel like I wasn't some pathetic girl who got dumped and let her ex-boyfriend control her life. They made me realize that I'm Bella Swan and no one can take that away from me." I said squeezing Paul's hands as I remembered just how great my friends are and how grateful I am to have them in my life.

"They sound like great people." Paul commented making me smile.

"They are. I can't wait for you to meet them." I nodded my head and sniffled. Paul raised his hand and wiped the tears away from my cheeks before pushing a strand of my hair behind my ear. The move was so intimate—something Emily and Sam would do—that it made my heart swell. Maybe Kim was right, maybe Paul wasn't as bad a guy as I thought.

**PPOV**

I wanted to fucking murder Edward Cullen more than I previously did. He hurt my gir—Bella. He hurt Bella. It was hard to see her cry, but I'm glad she let me hold her hands so I could comfort her in some way. It was both nice and a relief to hear how much Josh and Jill took care of her. They sound like amazing people that care about Bella a lot and I'm glad Bella took the time to meet them. It's clear that they mean a lot to her. Bella took a hold of my hands again and smiled softly at me. I sighed and scooted my chair a little closer to her.

"My mom died when I was younger." I began as I focused on the feeling of Bella's hands in mine. "We weren't living here yet. We were living in Tacoma. I remember very few things about her. She used to whistle while she cooked and her smile was really bright. She smelt like apples and her hair was soft. She died in a car crash. After that happened my father brought us back to La Push. I was probably three or four. I met Jared the first day here. He lived a couple houses down from me and his mom welcomed us to the reservation." I swallowed thickly and gripped Bella's hands tighter. I could feel her thumb move soothingly over my hand.

"My father became a raging alcoholic and I was his favorite punching bag. The next ten years of my life were spent getting my ass handed to me by a man twice my size. I didn't have to do anything wrong because he would beat me anyway. It was only when I was 14 that Jared noticed me limping to school. He became concerned and told his mom who took me to the hospital in Forks. Turns out my father broke my leg. The doctor was surprised to see it wasn't as bad considering how much time I spent leaving it untreated. I like to think it was the wolf gene that had yet to appear. Mrs. Cameron hounded me with questions because she didn't believe my 'falling down the stairs' story. I finally broke down and told her and she quickly told Charlie. Charlie was always a friend to the tribe and being the chief of police didn't hurt." I smiled sadly as I thought about the first time I met Charlie. He was a good man and I considered him my hero. Him and Jared's mom.

"CPS took my dad away and Jared's mom took custody of me. A couple of years later I found out that my father had killed himself in prison. I was so angry. That's what triggered my initial phasing. I hated my father. He made my childhood a living hell and he refused to ever see me again or apologize. He'd rather die than see his son again. His one and only son. I spent the rest of my teen years pretty angry, but Sam and Jared really helped me calm down. Sure, I still act like a dick here and there, but I was ten times worse when I was younger. Sam made me realize that my father was a terrible man, but he didn't define me." I finished with downcast eyes. I know I'm a stronger person and nothing like my father, but remembering everything still hurts. I looked up at Bella with wide-eyes when I felt her hand on my face. Her hand felt so small and soft against my face.

"I may not know you completely, but I know you're nothing like that monster. You're a good man, Paul. I see that." She whispered and I leaned into her hand. I wrapped my arms around Bella's waist and pulled her into my body. Bella straddled my lap and put her arms under my arms and wrapped them around so her hands were resting on my shoulders. She laid her head on my chest and I wrapped my arms around her waist. I inhaled her scent deeply. Once you get passed the smell of strawberries from her shampoo she smelt like cherry blossoms and peaches. It was subtle and if I wasn't a wolf, I probably would never smell it. What a shame that would be. I wish I could bottle Bella's scent and wash everything I own in it. It's completely hypnotic.

Hearing Bella's reassurance was a weight off my shoulders. From the few instances she had with me, I thought she would be scared. I thought she would think that I was exactly like him and would want nothing to do with me. Who wanted a beaten up kid with daddy issues? That didn't matter to her. She saw who I was. The Paul the rest of the pack saw and I was happy for that. Bella's opinion was growing to be more important to me with every passing moment. She is such a strong and beautiful person and I'm not worthy to have her, but for some reason she wants to be here with me and get to know me. Maybe she's crazy. Heh, maybe I am too.

"Will you come with me to pick up Josh and Jill from Seattle?" Bella murmured breaking the silence that had surrounded us. I wasn't sure how long we were sitting there but with a quick look at the clock showed me that it had been about 20 minutes. My wolf was purring inside and absolutely loved having our mate—his mate near us. I pulled away from her and looked at her. She looked shy and nervous.

"Count on it." I said and she smiled. I think Bella realized she was on my lap because she suddenly scrambled off my legs. She blushed and apologized shyly. I shrugged my shoulders and stood up. It was getting late and I had patrol soon. "Are you busy tomorrow? I have patrol in the afternoon." I asked. I wanted to see her again.

"I'm going to Seattle with Angela to try on bridesmaid dresses." Bella said as she scrunched up her nose. I made the same face. That sounded horrible. Thank God I'm not one of Embry's groomsmen. I was already tired of being one after Sam and Jared's weddings. "But I should be back around the evening." She said looking up at me through her dark lashes. Damn. I want to kiss her.

"Don't be surprised if you see me already here tomorrow." I said as she nodded. I thought that would freak her out. Huh, I guess Jared was right. Maybe Bella can handle what I dish out. It's still early though. We'd have to wait and see. Oh, and I look forward to it.


	5. Chapter 5

**(A/N): WHOA! Over 120 follows! This is so great! You guys are awesome and I love each and every one of you! **

**Today's chapter has some wedding stuff (Angela and Embry) and if you want to know what my inspiration for Angela's wedding dress was, just search up "Chriselle Lim Wedding" and her dress should pop up. I'm trying to keep Bella in character so she wouldn't be great at describing dresses:P **

**Also, Josh (who will be introduced in this chapter) is based off one of my friends and he does say the "N-word" a lot, so please don't take any offence. If it does offend you, I apologize now and hope you can just ignore it. **

**Other than that, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**DAY 7: August 20, 2013**

**BPOV**

Today I was in Seattle with Angela, Vanessa, and Kim shopping for bridesmaid dresses. We took the train from Port Angeles here so we didn't have to drive. Angela knew I was coming back here in a couple of days so she tried to let me not come, but what kind of Maid of Honor would I be if I didn't go? Angela decided that she wanted my dress to be a different style than the others so Kim and Vanessa were the only ones trying on dresses right now.

"You don't think peach and lavender are weird colors, right?" Angela asked as we waited for Vanessa and Kim to come out with the first selections.

"Ang, it's a nice color choice. Stop second guessing yourself." I reassured.

"It's a fall wedding though. Shouldn't I have more…I don't know…fall colors?" Angela asked.

"There's no wedding dictator to tell you what wedding colors you must have. They're nice colors, Angela. You said Embry's favorite color was orange, right? So you have a shade of his favorite color in the wedding and your favorite color. It works." I said as Angela smiled softly.

"Thanks Bella." She said as I patted her knee and sat back on the couch we were sitting on.

"I love this dress!" Vanessa exclaimed walking out in a floor length, chiffon dress. It was one shoulder and was wrapped around the bodice, but flowed down to the floor effortlessly. The dress was lavender and Kim walked out in a peach colored dress that was similar, but was strapless and had a bow that tied in the back. Hey, I listened to the lady when she was describing it.

"I agree with her. I like that dress better." Kim said as Vanessa continued to twirl around in her dress watching the fabric swirl around her.

"I like the lavender dress too. What do you think Bella?" Angela asked.

"I like it. I don't like the bow on the other one." I said adding my two cents. Angela walked back with Kim and Vanessa as I sat on the couch by myself. I wonder what Paul was doing. He did say he had patrol today. I wonder if he would actually come over tonight. I hope he would. Whoa there, Swan…am I actually missing Paul? Ever since yesterday, I felt even more connected to him. He opened up about his past and he looked so vulnerable while telling me. He really laid it out for me. He didn't have to tell me all those things, but he did. I could tell he was briefly scared after he told me. I don't know why. Was he scared of my reaction? I was honored that Paul told me his past and I could see just how strong he was. Sure, he had muscles, _a lot of muscles_, but he was mentally and emotionally strong.

"Bella!" Kim screamed snapping me out of my thoughts and successfully scaring me.

"Jeez, what? No need to give me a heart attack." I said placing my hand over my chest to calm my racing heart.

"I've been calling your name for the past five minutes and you weren't answering." Kim said zipping up her hoodie.

"It's your turn to try on dresses. The saleswoman picked out some for you." Angela told me as I sighed. I hated trying on clothes. But this was for Angela. I got up and walked with Angela to the dressing rooms where the saleswoman was with a couple of dresses hanging next to her. All shades of lavender.

"How different do you want me to look?" I asked looking at Angela.

"Not that different. Just a subtle difference. One where people will tell that you're the Maid of Honor." She explained.

"Maybe I should just wear a sash that says so." I muttered sarcastically.

"All right, Paul…" Angela teased and I glared at her. She giggled before I was pushed into the dressing room. The first dress looked exactly like the dress the others picked, but this one was short. I didn't like it because that means I would have to wear heels. Angela agreed. She didn't want me landing on my face at the wedding. The second dress only had a wrapped design around the bust, but with the shoulder strapped also it looked weird. That was a nope. By the fifth dress, I was completely fed up and Angela was considering just having me in the same dress.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but can I provide a solution?" An elderly woman said when the saleswoman left to get more dresses.

"Yes please!" Angela exclaimed happily.

"I'm a seamstress here at the shop and if you want, I could simply remove the shoulder strap from the dress so she can have a strapless dress while the other girls have a strap." The woman said. Angela and I looked at each other. I shrugged my shoulders and Angela smiled before turning back to the woman.

"That sounds great! It'll be ready with the other dresses, right?" Angela asked.

"Yes, and I won't charge you any extra." The woman said kindly which made me smile. The dress was already a little over my budget, but it was worth it. After we made the arrangements and once the woman—whose name was Sophia—took all our measurements we all left to have lunch before Angela went in for her first fitting.

"Jared told me that you and Paul have been hanging out recently." Kim said once the waiter took our orders. Damn it, Jared. "Honey, get used to it. The pack share a mind and tell their imprints everything." She said as Vanessa and Angela nodded clearly agreeing.

"Yeah, we've been hanging out. He came over last night for dinner." I released as they looked at me expectantly. "We talked. That's it." I grumbled.

"Damn, I always wondered if what Erica said was true." Vanessa said as I raised my eyebrow. "She said Paul was an absolute beast in the bed." She clarified making me blush. "Oh my God! You totally slept together!" She exclaimed earning some looks in our direction.

"Sshh! No! We didn't sleep together! We haven't even kissed!" I hissed earning a pout from Vanessa. "We've only known each other for a couple of days!" I exclaimed.

"I know, we all know Paul's past, but Bella is different. She's his imprint." Angela said coming to my aid.

"So, you're telling me that you're not trying to jump his bones?" Kim asked. I blushed making Kim smirk in triumph and Vanessa giggle like a schoolgirl. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find out from the boys when you guys do finally do it." She said making stare at her in outrage.

"Bella, you'll learn shortly, just how much the pack and the imprints know of each other. Of course the pack doesn't share the important stuff, but with stuff like sex, it's like their second language." Angela said as I stared at her in shock too. Angela was just as shy as me and now here she was talking openly about sex. What happened to the pastor's daughter that I used to know?

After lunch we went back to the bridal store so Angela could have her first fitting. The dress was white (duh) and had a sweetheart neckline. She had lace short sleeves and the bodice was fitted. The dress was backless and had lace around the borders. There was a jeweled piece on the side of her hip and the fabric of the skirt fell gracefully around her long legs. Good thing Embry is 6'7; Angela (6'0) could wear any pair of heels and still be shorter than him. The dress accentuated her long legs and graceful back and made her look beautiful. Besides a few alterations the dress looked ready for the big day.

"Embry is going to lose it when he sees you." I told Angela as I stood next to her and we both looked at her reflection. Vanessa and Kim went to look at other wedding dresses leaving Angela and I alone.

"You're really think I look good?" Angela asked looking at me through the mirror.

"You look amazing. I might have to tell Quil to be prepared to catch Embry in case he faints from the sight of you." I joked making Angela laugh.

"I know we haven't kept in contact that much, but I'm really happy you agreed to be my Maid of Honor, Bella." Angela said. I smiled and hugged her softly, careful not to mess up the dress. After a few notes from Sophia we walked back to the train station and rode back to Port Angeles. It was around seven when we pulled up to my house and Vanessa squealed when she saw Paul sitting on my front porch. I rolled my eyes as the three of them laughed and waved me off. Paul stood up when he saw me and I couldn't help the smile that appeared on my face when he smiled at me.

"How was shopping?" He asked and I shrugged my shoulders. I walked around him to unlock my door and he waited patiently behind me.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We had a hard time finding a dress for me, but the seamstress there eventually helped us find one. Angela's dress is really pretty." I said as we walked into my house. I dumped my keys in the bowl I placed by the coatrack and Paul immediately went to the kitchen.

"Don't tell me how it looks. Embry will able to see it too." He said pulling out the small amount of leftovers I had from yesterday.

"About that," I said pulling the container away from him and putting it in the microwave for the right amount of time. "The girls were talking about that earlier. I'm not sure I fully understand what the pack mind is." I said hopping up to sit on the counter.

"What the pack mind is, is that when we're wolves we can hear anyone in the pack's thoughts as long as he or she is also phased. There's not much secret keeping amongst the pack. But if it's really important we make sure to keep it within the pack. The stuff about my parents remains in the pack. None of the imprints, except Kim, know about my past. Kim only knows because I allowed Jared to tell her." Paul explained to me as I nodded my head.

"So, if I told you something then the rest of the pack will know?" I asked.

"Is this about Edward?" He asked hesitantly.

"Not really. I don't care if they know, but I'm not sure I like having them know everything about us." I said shrugging my shoulders.

"We don't sit around and gossip all day about each other's imprints. I know stuff about everyone, but we don't talk about it. If it's extremely personal, we don't mention it in the pack mind and outside the pack mind." He explained. "Don't worry, your business is not going to be out there for everyone. I promise." He said while leaning over me with his hands on either side of me. I could smell him and God did he smell amazing. He smelt like cinnamon and oak. Just all-together man. I want to kiss him. He licked his lips and they looked so soft and smooth. I could see him leaning in and I found myself leaning forward too. The beeping from the microwave made us pull apart and I scrambled onto my feet and pulled out the pasta blushing while I did so.

"So what did you today?" I asked plating the pasta for him.

"Patrol and helped Sam remodel his neighbor's porch." He said moving to sit down at the table. I noticed he was wearing his cutoffs, but didn't wear a shirt. Did I really _just_ notice him without shirt? Hmm…maybe I'm becoming immune to his shirtlessness. He turned around showing me just how defined his abs were. Good Lord, is that an eight-pack? All right, maybe I'm not immune. "Eyes up here, Swan." Paul said making my eyes shift away from his glorious body and to his very amused face. I frowned and turned away from him. I hated when he caught me checking him out! Can't a girl look at her wolf…imprint…mate…whatever in peace! I put the plate of pasta in front of him and noticed that I got some sauce on my black shirt. Great. Actually…this is great! I smirked and was happy that Paul was now distracted with food.

"I'm going to change. I'll be back." I said before walking out of the kitchen and up to my room. I'm not going to whore myself out for Paul, but if he wants to play this game, then so be it. I changed into my yoga pants that made my ass look amazing. So amazing, that I'm sure Beyoncé would be jealous. Ok, well maybe not, but they still make my ass look good. I changed into my favorite push-up bra and put on a tank top. Yeah, I could be more comfortable, but this outfit was plenty comfortable and will definitely get a rise out of Paul. I walked back downstairs and into the kitchen to see Paul holding the frozen pizza I had bought earlier in the week and reading the instructions.

"Need help with that?" I asked causing him to look towards me. His eyes quickly dropped to my chest and only dropped lower to where they were burning a hole in my ass. I grabbed the box from him and bumped him with my hip. "Eyes up here, Lahote." I smirked.

"Trying to play with me, Swan?" He asked as I pulled the pizza out of the box.

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about." I said innocently and batting my eyelashes.

"You're playing with fire," He growled wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Better get out of the kitchen then." I whispered tilting my head up to look up at him.

"I'm starting to like this side of you." He said making me laugh.

"You don't even know the half of it." I said pushing him away and putting the pizza in the oven.

"Don't tempt me." Paul whined. I laughed and turned towards the table to pick up his plate, but it was already gone. I looked at the sink to see it not there and the dishes I had from this morning gone too. "I cleaned the dishes and put them away." He said noticing my confusion. I turned around to see him leaning on the counter and opening up the cupboard beside him. The dishes were put away correctly and in fact clean.

"And I'm starting to like this side of you." I said making him roll his eyes, but still smile. We ate pizza and talked about random things. We eventually landed on my couch and started to watch reruns of _Friends_. I started to hear snoring and I looked to see that Paul had fallen asleep. He did have patrol last night and this afternoon. He must be tired. I turned off the TV and—with a lot of effort—moved his legs onto the couch. I grabbed a blanket out of my linen closet and draped it over him. I ran upstairs and grabbed one of my extra pillows before moving his head and placing it there. Man, he's a really heavy sleeper. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. I took this time to truly appreciate how good-looking Paul was.

It's obvious to everybody that he has an amazing body and nice face, but I've never really looked at it. He had high cheekbones and a defined jaw. Long black lashes that were resting on his cheeks and a straight nose. His hair was dark and chopped off like the rest of the pack, but it managed to look perfectly messy. I knew he had a bright white smile and dark brown eyes that could burn a hole through steel. Paul really is beautiful. I decided to stop my creeping and headed upstairs to go to sleep. I wanted to wake Paul up and tell him to join me in bed, but I decided against it. I don't even know what we are. I don't need to be inviting him to my bed already.

These past days have been one big rollercoaster. I have only been here for a week and now have a job, found out about the existence of werewolves, discovered that I was mated to one of said werewolves, and now have the mate in my life making my feelings confusing. We've flirted, sure, but are we together? Do I want to be with him? I like Paul. I really do. But is that really enough to start a relationship with him? Maybe when Josh and Jill get here they'll make sense of everything. They tend to do that. I climbed into bed and quickly fell asleep.

**DAY 8: August 21, 2013**

**PPOV**

It didn't feel like I was in bed. Did I fall asleep on the couch again? I don't even remember making it home. What did I do last night? Ate dinner with Bella and stopped myself from throwing her over shoulder and taking her to bed. Shit, it's fun when I tease her about checking me out, but when she wears leggings or whatever those pants are that basically make her sweet ass even better, it's not fun. Especially when I don't get to touch it. Yet. That's a definite yet. What was I thinking about? Oh yeah, where am I?

I opened my eyes and looked around hazily. I definitely wasn't in my place. I rubbed my eyes and sat up. I was in Bella's house. I fell asleep here? Seeing the blanket over me and turning around to see the pillow behind me made that a positive. Where was Bella? A quick sniff of the air told me she was upstairs and still sleeping. I looked at the clock on the wall to see it was a little passed nine. Good thing I don't have patrol till noon. I got up and stretched my arms. Should I just leave? Should I wake her up? I don't have shit to do till 12. Maybe I should just stay here. Hmm…I wonder if she has anything I can make for breakfast.

I walked into the kitchen and opened her fridge. She had some eggs and sausage so I decided to make us breakfast. She did like it when I was domestic and shit. I grabbed some cheese along with the eggs to put on the eggs. I started making everything when I heard a phone vibrating. I patted my pocket to feel that my phone was not there. I walked back into the living room and grabbed my phone off the couch.

"What's up, Seth?" I asked answering my phone.

"_Where are you?" _He asked.

"At Bella's, why? I don't have patrol till noon." I muttered mixing the eggs and cheese around in the pan. Why the fuck is he calling me now? I don't have to be on the rez yet.

"_Um, you might want to leave." _Seth said nervously. What the fuck?

"Why?" I asked feeling my eyes narrow.

"_I…kinda…may have told Charlie that you imprinted on Bella…" _Seth said making me drop the spatula. Oh fuck. I'm so dead.

"Seth! What the fuck? Why the hell did you tell him?" I yelled as I turned the stove off and plated the food for Bella. I may have not made me food, but Bella would at least have some. I had to get out of here. The Chief is going to kill me.

"_I thought he knew!" _Seth exclaimed making me growl. Where the fuck are my shoes? Fuck it. I'll just run back without my shoes. Hopefully Charlie won't see them here.

"You better hope I don't see your ass, Clearwater." I growled before hanging the phone up. I could hear the cruiser pull up in the driveway and quickly sprinted out the backdoor.

"Freeze Lahote!" Charlie yelled. How the fuck did he get back here so fast? I stopped and slowly turned around on the grass to see Charlie with his arms crossed and gun in holster. Shit.

"Dad? What's going on?" Bella asked sleepily walking outside. Maybe if I use her as a shield, Charlie won't shoot me. He wouldn't hurt his daughter. Then again, Bella is a shorter than me. He could still shoot me in the face. Fuck. Not my face.

"Bella, I think you forgot to tell me the real reason you know about the pack." Charlie said leveling a stern "Dad" look towards Bella. All right, maybe he's just here to chew Bella out. I might be in the clear. Bella froze before looking at me and then back at Charlie. Charlie turned his head towards me and gave me that "don't fuck with my daughter, you bitch ass wolf" look. Fuck.

"You imprinted on my daughter." Charlie said. He was not asking. He was stating facts.

"Dad, Paul is a really good guy and—"Charlie glared at Bella again making her shut up. Fuck. Charlie walked over to me and even though I'm bigger than him I felt like I was smaller.

"Listen here, Lahote," Charlie said wagging his finger in my direction. I think my wolf is whimpering in the corner with his tail between his legs. "I know you. You're a good man. A strong man. I like you." Oh my God, maybe he's not here to kill me. He whipped out his gun and pointed it at my ass. Fuck. "But that doesn't mean I won't shoot you in your wolfy ass if you hurt my daughter. We clear?" He asked narrowing his eyes at me. My wolf was whining at this point.

"Crystal, sir." I managed to say without my voice cracking.

"Good." Charlie said nodding his head before placing his gun back in his holster. "Hey Bells! Think you can make me a sandwich before I go to work? I forgot to grab my lunch from Sue this morning." He said quickly returning to the nice police chief of Forks. Motherfucker is bipolar.

"Dad, you're crazy." Bella said shaking her head but walking back inside.

"C'mon Paul, have you ate anything Bella's made yet?" He asked motioning with his hand for me to walk in with him. Yup, motherfucker was definitely bipolar.

**DAY 9: August 22, 2013**

Bella and I got up early to drive to Seattle so we could pick up Jill and Josh. She told me that their flights were landing within two hours of each other so she wanted us to be there at 11. The whole drive there Bella told me about their adventures in college and I was slowly learning that this Josh guy really is crazy. Maybe I'll stick with Jill during this visit. She seems nice and I'm pretty sure I can handle a girl who isn't even five feet.

Bella and I parked in our designated lot and walked towards the airport. I had to actually wear clothes since we were in public and Bella did not want me walking around naked in the airport. Hey, she's going to eventually see it. Shit, at least I hope so. I hope she does a lot more than look at it. I'm getting off track. We walked through the sliding doors and headed towards the correct baggage claim where she told me Josh would be waiting. We walked through the airport and it was moments like this where I was glad I was taller than every average person.

"BELLA!" I heard someone scream and turned to see a tall black man running towards us with his arms flailing above his head. He scooped Bella up into his arms and spun her around as Bella laughed her head off. He was a couple of inches shorter than me with lean muscles. His hair was shaved off and he was wearing a pair of glasses that were square shaped with black rims. He had big lips that were currently stretched open over his super white teeth. He planted a sloppy kiss on Bella's cheek and if I didn't know this was Josh I would have kicked his ass.

"Ah! I missed you so much, girl!" Josh exclaimed placing Bella back on her feet. "What have you been up to? Apparently a lot with this guy here. Who are you and please tell me there are more of you." Josh asked turning to face me and letting his eyes run over me. Does this mean I have gay best friend approval?

"I'm Paul, I've heard a lot about you." I said with a smirk as Josh swiveled his head and looked at Bella.

"Mm…I hope only good things." Josh muttered. "All right, on the real." He said turning back to face me. "My nig, first, Bella is my homegirl and you best believe that I will cut a bitch if I see her crying." He said. Does every man in Bella's life have to threaten me? "Second, do you play _Zelda_?" Bella shook her head at his actions, but it made me laugh. This guy is funnier than I expected.

"I haven't played any of the recent games, but I am a fan." I said thinking back to my days of playing _Legend of Zelda _with Jared at his house.

"Hmm," Josh said narrowing his eyes. "He's good in my book. Tall, hot, likes Zelda. Girl, good job with picking this one." He said raising his hand for a high-five. Bella laughed and high-fived him as I laughed too.

"Technically he picked me." She said sharing a secret look with me. I chuckled as we moved to sit down. We spent the next hour talking to Josh. He and I got to know each other and he caught up with Bella. Josh told us how he got a job at a company doing game reviews and stuff with gaming. He's on a YouTube channel along with other people and their channel is gaining a lot of traction. He was positively giddy while telling us and I could see that Bella was happy to see her friend succeeding while doing something he loved.

"Where the fuck is Jill? I'm ready to get the hell outta here." Josh said as Bella looked down at her watch.

"She should be arriving now. I'm sure we'll see her soon. Relax, drama queen." She said rolling her eyes.

"Shit, you know," Josh said flipping his head back. Did he…Did he just try to flip his hair? Bella went to the bathroom and Josh smiled over at me.

"Uh…hey." I said awkwardly.

"Damn nigga, do you really have to be that awkward? I'm not going to bite, unless you want me to." He said wiggling his eyebrow. I chuckled and shook my head as he pouted. "Darn, DC or Marvel?" He asked.

"Marvel." I said automatically. He gasped dramatically throwing his hand over his chest.

"Why Marvel when you have way better heroes in the DC realm?" He asked outraged by my choice.

"Marvel has way better stories and they actually kill their villains. Fuck that rule about not killing anyone in the DC comics. That always pissed me off. Batman would be like 'oh shit, Joker is at it again.' No shit, he's not going to sit there and accept his jail time." I explained.

"But c'mon, DC has way better characters. Batman is a badass and nothing can beat Superman." He argued.

"Superman is so overrated. As long as you have kryptonite then he's down." I said while rolling my eyes.

"Um, if you two are done with your geeky argument. Jill is here and is a couple aisles down." Bella said appearing in front of us.

"Don't call us geeks. You know you're jealous." Josh said moving his head with attitude. This guy is a real character. We walked down a little ways down before stopping and searching around for Jill.

"Josh, look for her." Bella ordered.

"Um, this nigga is taller than me. Why don't you have him look?" Josh asked pointing to me with his thumb.

"He's not _that _much taller than you and he doesn't know what Jill looks like." Bella quipped making Josh sigh dramatically and put his hand above his eyes to look for Jill.

"I see her! JILL!" He yelled waving his hand above his head. We walked over to see a small girl sitting on one of the chairs. She smiled brightly and ran over to hug Bella. She had long black hair and a medium skin tone. Her eyes were slightly rounder than usual Asian eyes and were hazel. She was indeed short, _very _short, but she had a long neck and long legs for her body.

"I missed you guys so much!" Jill exclaimed before hugging Josh. She turned and looked up at me and it was actually pretty funny to see her tilt her head all the way back to look up at me. "You must be Paul." She said before turning to Bella with a devious smile. Hmm…so Bella has talked about me? I wonder what she told them about me. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Jill, but I'm sure you know that." She said extending her small hand towards me.

"It's nice to meet you too. I heard a lot of good things about you." I said shaking her hand. She smiled appreciatively at Bella before Bella led us out of the airport. We drove back to Forks and the car ride was filled with very animated chatter, mostly due to Josh, and a lot of laughs. We pulled up to Bella's house and unloaded their luggage into the house.

"Where's the 5-O?" Josh asked walking out of the room he was staying in.

"He's on the rez, do you want to head over there? You can meet the rest of the people I've mentioned." Bella said as they agreed. Wait till the guys get a load of Josh. We headed towards Sue's house and Bella already told Charlie about our arrival. We got to their house and walked right in.

"Pops! How's it going?" Josh yelled as soon as he saw Charlie. Charlie simply laughed and greeted Josh and Jill.

"Where's Sue?" Bella asked.

"She went to the store with Seth. They should be back soon. Have they met the rest of the guys?" Charlie asked and Bella and I both shook our heads. I decided to go get them and walked out of the house to Sam's where most of us are usually. I walked in to see the whole pack there minus Seth and Jake. I think he told me had he was having lunch with Vanessa's parents. Angela, Kim, Emily, and Marc were here too.

"What's up, Paul?" Jared asked from the couch.

"Some of Bella's friends are here visiting. I want you guys to meet them. Her friend Josh is hilarious and Jill is so small that you'll feel like giant next to her. Plus, she's super nice." I explained. They all shrugged their shoulders and we travelled back to Sue's house to see that they were all standing outside now.

"My oh my! I asked you Paul if there were more of you and you were holding out on me!" Josh exclaimed making Charlie, Bella, and Jill laugh.

"Cool your roll, Josh. Most of them are in relationships and if they're not they're not legal." I said making Josh pout.

"Damn, oh well, hi guys! I'm Josh. Do any of you like to play video games?" He asked and Brady and Collin quickly took to him. They were staring at him in pure awe while Josh continued to talk to them. What's so special about Josh?

"Wow, you're short." Quil said looking at Jill.

"And you're tall." Jill said making the pack laugh. "All of you are. What do they have in the water here?" She asked as Bella shrugged her shoulders.

"Bella!" Josh sang. "I'm about to serve Brady and Collin's asses in _Super Smash Bros_, I'll be back!" He said before the three of them walked off to the twins' house.

"Oh! We have company!" Sue said as she appeared with bags in her hands.

"Sue! This is my friend, Jill. Josh went to play a game with the twins, but he'll be back." Bella said introducing the two girls. The rest of us walked back to Sue's car to help unload the groceries.

"Who's here?" Seth asked.

"Bella's friends. You'll meet them soon." I said as we walked into the kitchen. Jared and Sam left to run patrol before we got back. The girls were all sitting outside talking about shit that girls talk about.

"Seth!" Bella exclaimed as soon as we stepped outside. "I want you to meet my friend, Jill." She said dragging Jill over to meet Seth.

"Hi! I'm Jill!" Jill said brightly and waved up at Seth. I didn't hear a response from Seth so I turned to my side to see him staring at Jill with wide-eyes. I could hear the guys howl with laughter behind us and I couldn't help the smirk that appeared on my face.

"Did he just—"I nodded cutting off Bella's question and see started to whip her head between the two of them. She then smiled brightly and looked at Seth and Jill excitedly.

"Why is he just staring at me?" Jill asked as I laughed and socked Seth in the shoulder. Jill walked away with Bella because Seth was seriously confusing her. Oh, she doesn't know the half of it. Seth snapped out of his imprint-induced haze and looked at me.

"I see you found your imprint." I smirked. Seth smiled brightly and looked back at Jill affectionately.

"Jill!" Josh yelled running over. He picked up Jill in his arms and swung her around. Jill laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck to make sure she didn't fall. I could hear a growl next to me and looked to see Seth shaking.

"Seth, it's not what it looks like—"I was cut off by a louder growl that everyone heard. Josh and Jill looked at Seth confused and before I could drag him away, he phased into his wolf. Jill screamed and Josh stumbled back in shock and landed on his ass. Well…fuck.


End file.
